The love of a garden fountain

The backyard in itself is a pleasant place. But no garden is ever so perfect without a water fountain. They add beauty and serenity to you're garden The sound of the water will give you much relaxation.

The kinds of water garden fountains

There are a lot of different garden fountains You have them in all kinds of sizes, for instance you have wall fountains that are installed on the wall and are mostly used in small gardens or patio's and you have pond fountains that are used mostly in the bigger garden,but there are pond fountains special build for smaller gardens.

The materials used to make garden fountains are: stone, ceramic, wood, copper, concrete, and I have also seen some beautiful old bronze garden fountains, though they are really expensive and much harder to maintain, the best materials for a fountain would be concrete and ceramic, those materials are low maintenance and have a long durability.

Garden fountains with sculpted carvings are adding to the beauty and serenity of you're backyard, choosing the right kind of garden fountain is a important decision, you need to think of a view things like: budget, how much is this going to cost me, where in the garden am I going to place it, where do I get my water and electricity from, this take's up a lot of planning, I would recommand to get some professional advice about all this stuff.


Maintenance

There are some things that you need to think about when maintaining your garden fountain.
-Fist when you have your water fountain in the garden you need to make sure that you clean in on a regular basis, because if you don't do that on a regular basis the water will be populated with algae and turn into a green dirty slum, and you don't want that do you?

-Use a algae treatment that is save for the environment, it would be a shame if you cleaned out your fountain and all of the sudden all the wildlife in you're garden go belly up, there are a lot of greet products that are completely save fore the environment to use.

The right planning is the main requirement to install, maintain and own a garden fountain, there are a lot of recourses on the internet and in magazines that you can use to plan and designing your garden with a fountain, belief me there if no better way then to relax in your own backyard with sparkling fountain

The Fountains and Statuary of Battle Abbey

Alexander Neckam, an Augustinian monk living in the twelfth century, is the earliest English writer on fountains, statuary, and gardens. In his De Naturis Rerum, he describes the herbs, trees, and flowers growing in a noble garden, flanked by flowing water from statuary fountains. His list, however, can hardly apply literally to plants then flourishing in England, for the pomegranates, almonds, dates, oranges, nor lemons mentioned by him could have survived there out of doors, even with the abundant water supplied by the fountains. On the other hand, "the drowsy poppy," the daffodil, and brank ursin (acanthus), peony, violet, rose, marigold, and lily, are among other flowers he cites, and were likely grown in many gardens, as they are also described in the oldest English herb diaries.

Battle Abbey, the first great monastery in England founded after the Norman Conquest, belonged to the Benedictine order, and was originally called "La Bataille." William the Conqueror ordered it to be built on the site of the decisive conflict between the Norman and Anglo-Saxon armies, with a series of fountains to honor the ferocity of the battle. The high altar garden statue is said to mark the spot where, in the thick of the fiercest fighting, Harold, the king, was killed and his body found by his betrothed, after nightfall.

A step away from this historic spot, stretching between it and the restored outdoor fountains of the monastery, are some beautiful modern gardens enhanced with large statues laid out by the late Duchess of Cleveland. The stiff, geometrical patterns of the most modernistic statuary, bedded out with geraniums and edged with box, covering the edge of each fountain, produce an effect harmonious with the building, although they are utterly unlike the homely plantations formerly cultivated by the monks. Another attractive garden d้cor arrangement is the terrace walk of grass through the fountains, and beside the Abbey, with enclosures in the thick wall for seats, where, walking or sitting, one overlooks a wonderful stretch of woodlands and dancing fountains once traversed by William and his army.

Fountain – A Watery Touch To Your House

Water fountains inside a large garden pond, water bodies, or farm ponds, lends a beautifully elegant touch to them. The water fountains, due to filtration, keep the water clean, and provide additional oxygen to the pond fishes.

While selecting a fountain, make sure that the height of the water fountain spray is less than one half the width of the garden pond. This helps to prevent excessive water loss. For proper distribution of water, it is necessary to match the fountain spray with the fountain pump. Most of the fountain pumps contain devices that adjust itself with the height of the fountain spray.

Fountains are the best way to provide a cooling effect on your house during summers. A wall fountain near the front door produces a pleasing sound to your ear. You can even opt for a standing water fountain with all its necessary accessories like a pump, container, water plant and pebbles. They give a decorative touch to the fountain. If you stay in a dry area, either because of the rugged terrain or due to air conditioning, fountains are very helpful. The increase the humidity of indoor air and prevent your skin from drying. It is said that the negative ions released by fountains, is good for the mood and concentration.

You can easily prepare your own fountain at home with the help of a waterproof container, a water pump, pebbles and water plants. Using a suction cup, place the pump at the bottom of the bowl. Plug the pump to an electric outlet and cut the tubing accordingly to fit the container. Place rocks and pebbles at the bottom of the container and adjust the water volume as required to produce the sound.

You can place water plants, moss, figurines, and other decorative items to make it look attractive and at the same time hide the tubing. A candle placed beside the fountain makes it look all the more attractive due to the glistening of the light in the fountain.

It is necessary to take proper care of the fountain to ensure its long run. Try to keep it dry during the winter months. Cover the fountain with blankets or burlap bags to protect it from severe cold. To avoid clogging during summer, it is required to clean the leaves, twigs, and debris. Avoid using bleach if pets have access to the fountain. Fountains are beautiful assets to your house, and enhance the beauty of indoor and outdoor surroundings.

Use of Fountains and Statuary in English Monastic Gardens

Few exact records of English monastic gardens have been preserved. A twelfth-century plan of Canterbury, showing the cloisters containing a herbarium, garden fountain, and a conduit; with a garden pond, orchard, and vineyard outside the walls, gives only a rough idea of the planting and arrangement. But there is no other document even this complete belonging to this early period.

Since, however, the various parts of all monasteries of the same order were as uniform as circumstances permitted, the general scheme of the English monastic gardens can be gathered from the plans and descriptions of those on the continent. The plan of the ancient monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland, still exists, and supplies much information about the arrangement of a large religious establishment belonging to the Benedictines in the ninth century.

The monastery was placed in a valley, and the cultivated grounds within the walls consisted of four divisions: the cloister-garth, the fountains, statuary, and adornments, the vegetable garden, and a combination of orchard and burial ground. The cloister-garth was a square, planted with grass and shrubs, divided by two intersecting paths into four equal quarters. In the centre was a savina, a type of decorative outdoor garden fountain suitable for supplying water for drinking and washing purposes. These cloisters were south of the church, and surrounded by the large garden statuary, and other more important communal buildings.

Logically, the fountains and garden statuary was placed close to the center of activity. The fountains provided moisture for growing many of the lesser plants, including peppermint, rosemary, white lilies, sage, rue, corn-flag, pennyroyal, fenugreek, roses, watercress, cumin, lovage, tansy, kidney bean, fennel, or savory. All of these were regarded as herbs useful for medicinal purposes.

The kitchen garden was necessarily on a larger scale and contained eighteen oblong beds of identical shape, each planted with a different kind of vegetable or pot-herb: onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, chervil, dill, lettuce, poppy, savory, radish, parsnip, carrot, cabbage, beet, leek, shallot, celery, or corn-cockle. Nearby was the house of the head gardener or hortulanus.

In the burial ground, honorary statues, trees and shrubs were placed in the spaces between the graves, and must have produced the ornamental effect which in this connection we are apt to consider as modern. Mentioned as growing there, in circles around a large garden fountain, were apple, pear, plum, service medlar, fig, quince, peach, hazelnut, almond, chestnut, walnut, laurel, and pine trees. Amidst such a luxuriance of foliage, fountains, and statuary, the graves must have been almost hidden from view.