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Tips and ideas to help your landscape look its bestLANDSCAPEDESIGN

Story and photos by Mark Carter

As a landscape designer it’s very impor-tant to seek out, keep up with and explorenew trends in design and landscaping.Some trends are slow to build in popular-ity and some are a hit almost overnight.Some trends become mainstream andothers fade away. Here is a trend that isboth “hot” and “cool”; I think it has andwill continue to stand the test of time andI wanted to share it with you.

CONTAINER WATER GARDENSContainer water gardens are a grow-

ing trend but, their history and use goes asfar back as ancient Rome and Egypt. Forgood reason I think. Water is the stuff ofall life. Container water gardens not onlyadd the element of water to any space,they also add a personality that no otherelement can touch. A colorful container

with a bubbling fountain and gorgeousfoliage and flowers can make almost anyarea “pop,” transforming even the mostdrab place into a cool and inviting oasis.In most cases, container water gardens arenot a replacement for a larger water fea-ture, they just add that “je ne sais quoi”that we are all looking for.

The deck and/or patio are perfectspots for a container water garden. It willadd the elements of water, sound andmotion to the space and the plants willenhance any containers or decorations ondisplay.

But don’t stop at the obvious. Thelocations and possibilities that containerwater gardens provide are almost endless:• How about one at the front entry to

the home? How inviting is that? Blowsthe old welcome mat out of the water.

• Adding one as a focal point in anexisting border or perennial garden canreally change and invigorate a tired oroverlooked area in the landscape.• How about on the screened porch orsunroom? I recently added a nice waterbowl with a spitting fish and a few aquaticplants to a table in my sunroom at homeand I am not kidding when I say that itTOTALLY transformed the room. I love it!

The really cool thing is that there’s acontainer water garden for every place,taste, style and budget and the possibilitiesare endless.

It’s easy to get started: First ask your-self a few questions:• Where will you put it?• What are the colors nearby? • Will it have a pump and fountain forsound and motion?

5 Easy Stepsin

A Container Water Garden

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• What size and shape container willbest fit the size and scale of the area? • Will it be simply water and plantsOR will you add a statue or ornament tothe display? • Will I add some washed or polishedstones? • Can I add a goldfish? (Yes!!)

Now, after you’ve answered these basicquestions...

GET STARTED!!!It doesn’t matter whether you’re a

novice gardener and want to give watergardening a try, or you’re a full-fledgedmaster gardener and pond expert look-ing to add a touch of water in an unex-

pected place around the house and gar-den; a beautiful container water gardenwill do the trick. Another great thingabout a container water garden is thattheir easy to put together and maintain,a big plus for today’s busy gardener.

My friends, I hope this basic intro-duction to container water gardeninghas peaked your interest and willincrease your enjoyment of your gardenand outdoor spaces. Once you have one,don’t be surprised if you see other areaswhere another would fit in perfectly. Ithink they are like potato chips, ONEain’t enough.

Here’s to living the life abundant.

Mark Carter is an award-winning landscapedesigner and owner of Carter’s Nursery,Pond and Patio in Jackson, TN, specializingin custom water features. He is a foundingboard member of the Certified AquascapeContractors Assoc., President of the West TNPond & Koi Club and the West TN Chapter ofNAWGS. For further information contactMark at Ph.#731-424-2206 or his website :www.cartercountry.com.

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This is a container that I turned into awater feature/fountain. It’s an old olivejar sitting over an in-ground, buried container that houses the pump and iscovered with gravel. Simple, low-maintenance and very inviting!

An easy DIY water gardencontainerStep 1Find an attractive pot or container to use.A glazed, solid pot usually works best,but you can seal the drain holes of aconventional pot if you wish.

Step 2Wash and install some decorative gravel.

Step 3Arrange your aquatic plants in a pleasingmanner using the “Thriller, Filler andSpiller” method of arrangement.

Step 4Install an attractive fountain, bubbler orspitter, and disguise it with plants and apump cover, if necessary. Possibilitiesabound. Many fountains and spitterscome with a pump, if not, a small foun-tain pump will work fine.

Step 5Place your new Container and plug it in...Enjoy !

Marks Top 10 Aquatic Plants for Containers1. Society garlic2. Pitcher plant3. Corkscrew rush (Photo below)4. Slenderleaf false dragon head5. Lotus6. Joseph’s coat7. Star sedge8. Fiber optic plant9. Aquatic 4-leaf clover10.Marsh fern

This aquatic pot issimple and elegant.Water hyacinth setsthe container offnicely and reallybrings out the beautyof the other potteryand plants around it.

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