We recently installed a quiet water feature as an accent to a large trellis on the property of a historic home in Wake Forest. The trellis area defines the front yard from the back, and is located along a short path.
The homeowner took her inspiration from a fountain located on the grounds of the nearby Wake Forest Historical Museum. The design is an overflow urn type fountain and consists of an underground reservoir (which holds the water) and a glazed earthenware piece above. We started by excavating a hole for the fiber-plastic tub. Once the desired level was reached, we compacted crush & run gravel in order to establish a stable base. The reservoir was then leveled and prepped for the urn and decorative stone.
Our next decision was the type of stone to be used at the base of the urn. It needed to camouflage the buried reservoir and serve as a splash diffuser for the water flowing off the sides of the urn. We selected Tennessee River stones from Bradsher Landscape Supplies in various sizes. The larger stones provide a nice contrast to the smaller path stones, and they can easily be removed for access to the reservoir.
After washing the stones, we arranged them around the base of the urn. The fountain will remain winterized until the spring, and at that time the reservoir will be filled and a screen will be added below the layer of stone (to prevent debris from entering the reservoir). As a final touch, a slab of slate was added as an extension of the existing footpath.
