Selecting the right fountain – the one that you just couldn’t take your eyes off of at your go-to landscaping shop – can unify and complete your garden design. Coming upon a garden fountain suddenly when walking through a well-designed landscape is like happening upon a magical place. Who doesn’t want that in their backyard?

Perhaps you’d like an outdoor water feature that can serve as a centerpiece, bringing the lyrical sound of flowing water and living art to your outdoor space? Or perhaps a smaller fountain that serves as an accent and complements your overall design? Grab your pencil, sketch out a budget and you’re ready to get started on your quest to find the right type of fountain.

Thinking Big or Small

You have some searching to do. You need to choose one that fits your landscaping scheme, physically and in style. If you have a simple garden design, you may want to complement it with a Japanese-style fountain, creating a meditative space.

If you’ve created an ornate, lush design that is overflowing with striking plants that run up against deeply manicured lawns, you may opt for an ornate stone fountain that conjures up a sense of history. Perhaps you are working with a small patio space? If so, a wall fountain could act as a unifying backdrop to your decorating scheme.

Cast stone or ceramic? Fiberglass or metal?

Know that whatever your garden style and size, there is a fountain out there for you that comes in a material that will stand up to the elements while looking smashing. The most common materials for an outdoor fountain are cast stone, ceramic, fiberglass, and metal. Each has its advantages.

Cast stone
Sculptors and designers of fountains love cast stone as it takes any shape that you ask it to. If your I-want-to-be-an-artist niece sketches a dream garden fountain, it can be custom made in cast stone. We all love a stone statue, and while cast stone is lighter than the real thing, its appearance and durability is very similar.

Fiberglass
A fiberglass fountain can be constructed so that it mimics the look of many desirable materials, like worn copper, simple lead or antique iron. The material is lightweight, meaning that you can easily place it where it fits in your garden design.

Ceramic
Perhaps the most artsy looking of all the materials, ceramic brings a substance and brilliance of color to the humble garden fountain. Ceramic fountains shine on decks and patios, but they are relatively small and can easily be lost in wider, open spaces.

Metal
Metal fountains are gorgeous. They bring a sense of the old world to a new world garden. Imagine ornate scrolls covering an upright square metal fountain; the spout is golden and water trickles out of it gently. Aluminum, bronze, copper, and steel often find themselves being shaped into fountains.

Wow, that fountain is huge!
Not what you want to hear as your friends take a stroll in your garden before dinner. You would probably rather hear something like, “What a perfect garden fountain!” Your garden fountain should be of a size that fits naturally with its environment, not so small as to disappear and not so large as to overwhelm.

Some landscape architects use this guideline: if your fountain is higher than one-third of the height of your home, it is too high. Oh, and a deep fountain is the green way to go. Why? They use less water. They are also less expensive to move and to take care of.

There you have it. Now you want to head over to our store to peruse our collection of premium cast stone fountains, right?