If you are considering adding a custom swimming pool to your landscaping design, you might want to think about the addition of a pool water fountain. We have seen pool water fountains turn an everyday swimming pool into a memorable work of art because they add movement, sound, shape and color to the landscape design. We get a great deal of pleasure from custom-designing these vehicles of enchanting, vibrant form.

Pool water fountains are fountains that are in or connected to a larger body of water. Some of the designs we have installed include sprays of shooting water coming out of the pool coping, rock waterfalls, and decorative vessels—classical shapes such as woodland sprites or playful ones shaped like frogs—mounted on the pool deck. Another favorite of ours is a fountain wall, anywhere from 2-feet to 8-feet tall, with water falling out of a weir, or opening, made of brick, stone or stainless steel. These wall fountains create impressive backdrops for sculpture and planters.

In addition to the aesthetic reasons to add these pool fountains, we have seen them provide very practical benefits, too. They eliminate redundancies such as chemical treatments and drain lines for two separate water elements. If you have children, this fountain type eliminates the need to cordon off another body of water. They also cut down on the common problem with stand-alone water fountains called over-spray. That is, water bouncing out of the fountain onto your wooden deck, patio pavers or concrete patio and creating a slippery hazard. With pool water fountains, the water splashes harmlessly into the larger body of water.

At Exterior Worlds, we begin the design process by listening closely to your needs and desires. We take those thoughts and include them in our careful consideration of your home's architecture, the topography of your lot and any existing hardscapes—as we do with all our landscaping architecture projects. We help you focus on questions such as—do you prefer natural forms like waterfalls or the simplicity of contemporary designs? What type of landscape lighting will bring you the most pleasure and work with the water features?

With our years of experience in producing luxurious and highly personalized signature designs, we bring to the table a focus on scale and design that is appropriate for your home and landscape. Additionally, we have the expertise to do the job right from the very beginning. We discuss with our clients the unseen features of professional landscaping, such as using the right valves so that you can adjust the water flow to your liking or installing custom stone work to hide jets. We do this careful pre-planning so that you don't end up with a glaring problem in the finished product.

Over the past few years, a trend has emerged within home and landscaping design in which home base is being outfitted to serve as a retreat and sanctuary from an over-busy, over-full outside world. A pool water fountain is a landscape feature that perfectly fulfills that role.