The previous owners of our home spent a lot of money on landscaping in the backyard. I have never had such a fancy backyard. We added the fence. There is a fire pit:
We also have lots of brick paved areas with rock-filled beds for plants:
Those are some of the largest hostas I have ever seen. We never had hostas before. The rest of the plants are lower maintenance shrubs, Stella d’oro lillies, and succulents. They didn’t even have rhubarb!
I think they went a little over the top with the water feature, however. It is a bubbling brook powered by an electric pump submerged in a deep vat at the bottom of the brook. It is plugged into an electric outlet by the fence. The pump has to be removed every fall so it won’t freeze up over the winter. It is not easy to remove or reinstall.
The birds love the brook. It has to be refilled every other day or so or the pump starts to make groaning noises. I plan to turn over the stones with the words carved in them, as I think those are a silly affectation and they annoy me.
The dogs love to plunge in the brook at the top and slide down to the bottom. I would never put such a thing in a yard, and I absolutely hate all the rocks in the flower beds as they make weeding and replanting a lot more work than they need to be. I plan to put in roses and hydrangeas and spring bulbs next year, but we need to clear a lot of rocks from every side of the house before that happens.
If you had to have a water feature in your yard, what kind would you get? What words would you have carved in flat stones in your yard?
Trail Baboon 
I’ve noticed neighbors’ water features that are basically “stone looking” plastic and vertical. One has something that looks vaguely “South Pacific” and the other “Ionian”. They seem to use not very much water at all.
As for the stones… just to stir things up, I’d probably do something like “Rest” and “Peace”, or “Beloved” and “Grandmother”.
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I admit, I laughed hard when I saw your comment on flipping over the stones with words carved into them. I found one in my yard and will get a picture when it gets a bit brighter out there so you can see why.
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“Turn me over, please.”
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Excellent response, Anonymous! Confess your identity.
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I’ve always thought it would be kind of fun to have a water feature. I saw a 3 foot high crane fountain at Ren Fest many years ago that I thought was very pretty; the water tumbled down from the top onto lily pads I guess. But between the “having to deal with it” and the cost, I’ve never followed through.
No rocks with words on them for me, please.
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And certainly no rocks in the garden. I don’t know anyone who has put rocks in around their bushes and flowers who has been happy with it in the end.
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