Two Challenges/Two Water Features

It has been awhile since I have showcased any gardens with water features, and so I thought I would make up for it today. Each of the two gardens, I am about to show you, faced a number of hurdles when it came to designing a water feature. 

In the first garden, size was an issue: the backyard was a shallow, long, rectangular piece of property with not much room for a pond. 

The delicately balanced ecosystem of a healthy pond requires full sun or part shade at the very least. Mature trees however, cast most of this particular backyard into shade. 

In answer the challenge of insufficient sunlight, the pond was placed off centre and close to the back fence where there was a small pocket of sunshine. 

Water flows from a reservoir next to the fence and spills from a small waterfall into a shallow pond. To the right there is an area of lawn and to the left there is a patio area of flagstones and fine gravel.

Plantings around the pond include a pale mauve Clematis, a variety of grasses, daylilies, Bigroot Geranium, 'Geranium macrorrhizum', a Japanese Maple and a Corkscrew Hazel.

Next to the house a Penstemon, 'Husker Red' glows in the afternoon sunshine. 

Penstemon 'Husker Red': Full Sun. Height 75-90 cm, Spread: 30-45 cm. Normal, sandy or clay soils are all suitable. Average to moist growing conditions. Flowers are attractive to butterflies. USDA Zones: 3-9

Bigroot Cranesbill Geranium, Geranium macrorrhizum: Full sun, part shade or even full shade. Height 25- 30 cm, Spread: 45-60 cm. Normal, sandy or clay soils are all suitable. This is a pretty adaptable geranium: average, dry or moist growing conditions all work. Magenta-pink flowers in early summer. USDA Zones: 2-9

Goat's Beard, Aruncus dioicus assumes grand proportions, but is a wonderful 

plant for part shade if you have the space.

Goat's Beard, Aruncus dioicus: Full sun or part shade. Height 120-180 cm, Spread: 90-150 cm. Moist or wet growing conditions. USDA Zones: 2-9

The difficulty this next backyard presented was a fairly steep slope. The designers of this water feature  turned what could have been a problem into an asset. 

Just off the back deck, they put a koi pond (hidden from this vantage point by the plantings around it).

From the koi pond, the water runs down the sloping terrain and under a small foot bridge.

Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia punctata: Lysimachia punctata is a vigorous plant that forms a spreading clump with spikes of star-shaped yellow flowers.  

Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia punctata: Full sun, part shade or even full shade. Height 60-90 cm, Spread: 60-90 cm. Normal, sandy or clay soils are all suitable. In a border Yellow Losestrife needs to be reduced in size every year or two so it does not take over. There are a number of newer cultivars, some of which are better than others. I'd recommend doing a bit of research before selecting this plant for your garden. USDA Zones: 2-9

The stream empties into a second, larger pond at a lower elevation.

Do you see the frog stretched out on lily pads? 

Isn't that the life! Sunbathing and swimming all summer long.

A Garden in the Shade (Part 2)

In my last post, we finished off at the entrance to the one sunny pocket in the backyard garden. 

Let's head under the arbor and look around.

Before we move away to explore the rest of the garden, I wanted to show you this 

pretty, little Japanese birdbath.

I also want to point out the interesting way the gardener has managed to combine rock of different scales both in this bright, sunny corner and in other areas of the garden. 

On the left, she has created a dry stream bed using river rock with a flagstone edging. 

On the right, she has mixed flagstone with pea gravel to create a path. Pea gravel has a nice crunch under foot, but flagstone is easier to walk on. Assorted groundcovers soften and blend the edges of the path into the rest of the plantings.

And speaking of groundcovers...I like Creeping Jenny, but I always stress over its aggressive spread. This gardener obviously does not share my worry, because as you will notice, she has it planted throughout the garden. 

It does make an interesting textural matt under this Japanese Maple doesn't it?

She had this Black Bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra planted in a partially buried pot (initially slow to spread, but be warned, it can also be invasive). 

I love the skirt of ornamental grass that hides the pot.

Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'

Moving to the left, we enter an area of half-shade with dappled sunlight.

Among the flowering plants and shrubs are pink Astilbe and a number of hydrangeas. 

As you can imagine, she waters both frequently!

 In terms of foliage plants, the homeowner has planted a variety of hosta, heuchera and variegated Jacob's Ladder (see lower right corner two photos back). 

There are also Ostrich Ferns toward the back of this flowerbed.

In the far corner of the garden, there are a number of mature trees and full shade conditions. Added to the combination of hosta and heuchera, there is a Japanese Painted Fern, Athyrium niponicum var. pictum on the left. 

I am going to make a wild guess that the perennial on the right is a Heuchera,'Southern Comfort'.

Always pretty for shade: Siberian Bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla, 'Jack Frost'

I thought this was a fun idea. Hanging from the tree branches are several birdcages 

with plant pots inside.

No room for a full-sized pond? Check this out! This pond was no bigger than a bucket. 

I messed up this shot a little and missed the last word expressed in the sentiment on the 

little pebbles in the foreground. 

The rocks say, "Hello, have a nice day!" I pass that sentiment on to you.

Pin Ideas: Small Water Features & Garden Ponds