Water features can take many forms, including water gardens, ponds, fountains, streams, waterfalls, pools, and reflecting pools. They vary in size and purpose, from small decorative elements to larger habitats. Plantings also vary between submerged, floating, and marginal varieties suited to the water depth and purpose of the feature. Beyond aesthetics, water features can provide habitat and food for wildlife like fish, crustaceans, snails, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Proper design is needed to support any animals involved.

2. • A water feature / waterscape is any indoor or
outdoor decoration that incorporates water.
• Waterscape can be defined as spaces where
water is a major element
• The built environment can also be greatly enhanced
through use of waterscapes.
• An aquatic landscape, a view or site prominently
involving bodies of water

3. Water gardens, also known as aquatic gardens, are a type of man-
made water feature. They can be defined as any interior or
exterior landscape or architectural element whose primary purpose is to house,
display, or propagate a particular species or variety of aquatic plant.
Water gardening is gardening that is concerned with growing plants
adapted to pools and ponds. Although water gardens can be almost any size or
depth, they are typically small and relatively shallow, generally less than twenty
inches in depth. This is because most aquatic plants are depth sensitive and require
a specific water depth in order to thrive. The particular species inhabiting each water
garden will ultimately determine the actual surface area and depth required.

5. A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or artificial, that is
usually smaller than a lake They may arise naturally in floodplains as part of a
river system, or they may be somewhat isolated depressions (examples include
vernal pools and prairie potholes). Usually they contain shallow water with marsh
and aquatic plants and animals.
A pond is usually larger than a water garden, though most noticeably it
is deeper. Generally a pond is twenty to forty-eight inches in depth and designed
to accommodate both aquatic plants and fish
Globally, the most important service provided by a pond, at many scales,
is the production of fish and other wildlife. These are often also a source of food
for humans, as well as an important source of recreation. At the same time, these
ponds help maintain water quality by recycling nutrients.

7. A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or
jets it into the air to supply drinking water and/or for a decorative or dramatic
effect.
Fountains were originally purely functional, connected to springs
or aqueducts and used to provide drinking water and water for bathing and
washing to the residents of cities, towns and villages. Until the late 19th century
most fountains operated by gravity, and needed a source of water higher than the
fountain, such as a reservoir or aqueduct, to make the water flow or jet into the
air.
By the end of the 19th century, as indoor plumbing became the main
source of drinking water, urban fountains became purely decorative. Mechanical
pumps replaced gravity and allowed fountains to recycle water and to force it
high into the air.
Fountains are used today to decorate city parks and squares; to honor
individuals or events; for recreation and for entertainment.

9. A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within
a bed and stream banks.
Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be
referred to as
a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek,crick, gill (occasionally ghyll), kill, lick, mill
race, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run, or runnel.
Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle, instruments
in groundwater recharge, and corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The
biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called ariparian zone.
Streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented
habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity. The study of streams and
waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element
of environmental geography.

11. A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop in the
course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops
over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
This is overall the most popular element. From simple, sheer drops
and smooth curtain falls; to multi-leveled, split-tiered and complex cascades;
everyone loves a waterfall. These are utilized for containing vertically moving
water with angles of drop greater than thirty degrees and can range from the
lightly intermittent drips and drops of a "weeping wall" to the gossamer veil
of a multi-faceted cascade.

13. A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or paddling pool is a
container that is filled with water to enable swimming or other leisure
activities. Pools can be sunk into the ground or built above ground (as a
freestanding construction or as part of a building or other larger structure),
and are also a standard feature aboard ocean liners and cruise ships. In-
ground pools are most commonly constructed from materials such
as concrete, natural stone, metal, plastic or fibre glass, and can be of a
custom size and shape or built to a standardised size, the largest of which is
the Olympic-size swimming pool.

14. A reflecting pool or reflection pool is a water feature found in gardens,
parks, and at memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool
of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface.
Reflecting pools are often designed with the outer basin floor at the rim
slightly deeper than the central area to suppress wave formation. They can
be as small as a bird bath to as large as a major civic element.

15. This water feature has literally taken this industry by storm in recent years. It can
be a variety of limitless design possibilities in its initial form such as a waterfall,
stream or fountain and then just simply "disappears" into a hidden underground
reservoir or vault. The most unique aspects of this feature is that it can be any
size or shape and is as maintenance free as a water feature can be.

16. This particular type of feature can be found both inside or out and
generally consists of a point of origin located on a wall; such as a lion's head, a
sheet of mirrored glass or a slab of granite; that in turn directs or guides water into
a basin either sitting directly on the floor or suspended slightly above it. Designs
can range from old world antique, naturalistic, conservative or modern.

17. These water features cover an area found between dry land and open water
and are no more than contained mud holes. These mud holes; however; can be
one of the most fascinating focal points in your landscape. Bog gardens can
stand alone as a water feature or be used as an element in a much larger
project. There is a wide variety of unique plants available for use in a bog
garden application.

18. Water garden plants are divided into three main categories: submerged,
marginal, and floating.
Submerged plants are those that live almost completely under the
water, sometimes with leaves or flowers that grow to the surface such as with the
water lily. These plants are placed in a pond or container usually 1–2 ft (0.30–
0.61 m) below the water surface. Some of these plants are called oxygenators
because they create oxygen for the fish that live in a pond. Examples of
submerged plants are:
Water lily (Hardy and Tropical)
Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)

19. Marginal plants are those that live with their roots under the water but the rest of
the plant above the surface. These are usually placed so that the top of the pot is
at or barely below the water level. Examples of these are:
•Iris or Flag (Iris spp.)
•Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans)
•Bulrush (Scirpus lacustris)
•Cattail (Typha latifolia)
•Taro (Colocasia esculenta)
•Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)
•Lotus (Nelumbo spp.)
•Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)

20. Floating plants are those that are not anchored to the soil at all, but are free-
floating on the surface. In water gardening, these are often used as a
provider of shade to reduce algae growth in a pond. These are often
extremely fast growing/multiplying. Examples of these are:
•Mosquito ferns (Azolla spp.)
•Water-spangle (Salvinia spp.)
•Water-clover (Marsilea vestita)
•Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
•Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

21. FISH
Often the reason for having a pond in a garden is to keep fish, often koi,
though many people keep goldfish. Both are hardy, colourful fish which require no
special heating, provided the pond is located in an area which does not have
extremes of temperature that would affect the fish. If fish are kept, pumps and
filtration devices are usually needed in order to keep enough oxygen in the water to
support them. In winter, a small heater may need to be used in cold climates to keep
the water from freezing solid. Examples of common pond fish include:
•Rice fish
•Mosquito fish
•Rosy Red minnows
•White Cloud Mountain minnows
•Goldfish
•Crucian carp
•Koi
•Mirror carp
•Carp
•Weather loach
•Golden Orfe
•Golden Tench
•Eel
•Catfish
•Bluegill
•Black bass
•Snakehead
•Goby

22. CRUSTECEAN
•Crayfish
•Freshwater Prawn
SNAILS
•River snail
Small aquatic snails are usually found in ponds that contain plants. Some
people purchase apple snailsto keep in their water garden. "Melantho snails" of the
genus Lymnaea are also used.
HERPETO FAUNA
Ponds located in suburban and rural areas often attract amphibians such
as common frogs and Fire Salamanders and reptiles such as turtles, lizards,
and snakes.
BIRDS
•Wild duck
•Domestic duck