[jyl]

Has anyone here built a "water feature" in their yard? Fountain, waterfall, pond, stream, etc? Would you share thoughts, advice, lessons learned?

My wife and I are still brainstorming what to do with our side yard.

We live on a somewhat busy street, so some masking noise would be nice, might help the fence and trees in keeping down the traffic noise intrusion.

Also, the side yard that borders the busy street is small and shaded enough that it is hardly worth trying to grow grass. We had a landscaper in here and he recommended only a small patch of grass in the center with shade tolerant plants all around the perimeter. I'm wondering why I want to bother with the grass - after all, there's grass in the front yard - and thus we're taking a "blank slate" approach.

Thinking of a small (7' x 4', maybe 2' deep) irregular (naturalistic) in-ground pond with an in-pond fountain. Surrounded by rocks and plantings, then a encircling gravel or mulch path w/ a couple small sitting areas. Then low-maintenance, shade-tolerant plants - ferns and such - around the perimeter of the yard.

The pond will be in weak sun some of the time, being on the northern side of the house. It won't get many tree leaves. We don't normally get freezes - might snow once a year.