Once your beautiful new fountain is installed, you may be worried that it looks too plain standing alone in its chosen spot. If you haven't yet planned out how you will dress up your fountain, think about using plants and lights. The examples below show you how:
Use landscaping to add interest.
Potted or planted evergreen shrubs will make your fountain pop all year round. Junipers, hollies, and other plants that keep their needles or foliage throughout the winter also make great bases for decorations in the fountain area. Winter holidays, Valentine's Day, and the Fourth of July provide opportunities to embellish the evergreens with ornaments, ribbons, and big red hearts.
If your fountain is located in a wet or boggy area, canna lilies, lobelia, and ferns will appreciate being planted there and will sprout and bloom year after year with nominal care. Drought-tolerant perennials like butterfly bush, zebra grass, and day lilies will do better if the soil around your fountain is on the dry side.
Choose plants that enhance the style of your fountain. A plant like Dragon Wing begonia, with its bat-like leaves, works great if you've got a Gothic-style fountain, while a sleek, modern-style fountain looks awesome arranged with orchids and other textured house plants. Remember that annual and house plants, unlike perennial plants, must be brought indoors for winter or replaced fresh each spring.
Let lights play off the water.
There are so many choices in outdoor lighting, you now have options in every color and bulb size imaginable to dress up your fountain. Underwater, colored spotlights make the fountain itself beam like a jewel, and some of the bulbs will change color as they shine. Spotlights outside the fountain can be placed to add night time color to shrubs or statues.
Battery-operated string lights with tiny fairy bulbs add a magical touch, and some versions are waterproof so they can be arranged in fountains and waterfalls. If your taste runs on the more modern side, place glowing cubes of light around your fountain. These illuminated blocks are manufactured as large as several feet across. A more old-fashioned fountain will benefit from gas or farm lanterns hanging on either side of it.
Another idea is to wrap wagon wheels, garden arches, and benches that are located in the fountain vicinity with party lights. This method is sure to create a fountain that will be the bright spot of your back yard.
Your fountain supply store will have all sorts of accessories, lights, and decorations to make your water feature a unique expression of your personality and style.
