Are you looking for something a little different in your back yard this year? Do you need a relaxing sound to listen to at the end of your busy day? Have you been thinking about having fish as alternative pets to allergy-inducing dogs or cats? Perhaps now is the time for you to consider the beauty and benefits of installing a water feature in your yard.

Recently, we caught up with water feature specialist, Shane Hemphill to talk about what it takes to put in a beautiful fountain, waterfall or other feature. Shane has over 20 years experience in the business, and four years ago, started his own company, Art of the Yard.

“There are a lot of choices in water features,” said Shane. “I break them up into the following categories:

• Tabletop, or small fountains
• Contemporary features, like walls with water flowing down
• Pondless waterfalls, where the waterfall disappears into a rock formation
• Natural Eco-System, which balances water, fish, plants and filtration systems
• Lakes, retaining ponds, ice rinks and other large projects.”

These backyard additions are growing in popularity all the time. The popularity can be attributed to flexibility of design, the ability to help homeowners relax, and the ease of ownership.

“When I come home I can feel myself relax as I go out to feed my koi,” said Shane. “Other people have told me they love to just open the windows and hear the sound of the water flow.”

If you’re interested in a water feature, these are some considerations you should keep in mind:

Size Matters

Shane recommends that you fit the feature you choose to best fit the size of your yard and the other ways you use it. An active sports family is going to need a smaller feature than an empty-nest couple.

Fish or No Fish?

A pondless option is easier to maintain than a natural eco-system. “The pondless water feature will probably take about 10 minutes a month to maintain, but for the eco-system pond, you’ll want to plan for about one and one half hours of maintenance every two weeks,” said Shane. This is because of the need to clean skimmers, free debris from pumps, and washing filters.

Water Features Use Less Water

That’s right. Shane said that a water feature uses approximately one-third the amount of water that a properly maintained lawn uses. “The key here is to build properly, keep your feature maintained without leaks, and use the right products to make your feature as maintenance free as possible.”

Choose a Good Designer

Just as you chose the best designer for your deck solution with DeckTec, water features need a good designer as well. “Every project is different,” said Shane. “That’s why we love our work at Art of the Yard.”

We asked if the products and do-it-yourself supplies you find at hardware stores would work as well as a custom designed project.

“The problem with the off-the-shelf solutions is that, in their packaging and labeling, they don’t take into consideration the fish and plants you’ll need to make a good eco-system,” Shane answered. “And they use a lot more electricity than a project that’s built for you. The pumps they sell are meant to be turned on once a week or so, not for running continuously as you do with a built-in water feature, so they’re not as eco-efficient. The pumps we put in are more expensive up front, but they tend to pay for themselves within the first year of use.”

Shane went on to say that the failed DIY projects he sees are a significant reason he stays in business. “I’d have to say that 80% of our business comes from home projects gone bad, or water feature re-dos.”

Just as you would expect, Shane has a water feature in his own yard. “I love it and don’t think I could live without it.” He put his feature in several years ago, and the koi in his pond are now about two and one half feet long. The koi hibernate under the 18 inch freeze depth because, as with all his projects, Shane makes sure his pond is anywhere from 30 to 36 inches deep.

We asked if Shane named his koi. There was a soft chuckle as he replied, “My mom does.”

If you’d like to consider putting in a pond or water feature this summer, please call DeckTec at 303.277.1550 and we’ll help you get started. So jump in. The water’s fine and so are the koi.