I like the looks of a fountain, but the constant trickling and gurgling - not sure how long I could take that if it was near a place I frequently sat. Some say it's relaxing, maybe one gets used to it.

We absolutely LOVE our fountain. It was a gift from my son, it is from Lowe's. It is about 5-6 ft tall, and it is 3-tiered. Here are some things to consider. You will need electricity. My husband ran the electricity from the bottom of the fountain into a hole in the bottom of his shop nearby and we plug in an outlet in the shop. Make sure it is GFI, ground faulted. You can run it thru pvc pipe. In the past we have used GFI switch so we could just turn the fountain on/off rather than plug in/out. There is some splashing and on windy days you lose water. On very sunny days, you lose water. You do have to refill fairly often. Perhaps a deeper fountain, 2-tier with a big base, would not require filling as often. We have rain barrels and fill a bucket or watering can from them and fill the base of the fountain, sometimes several times a day on windy days mostly. I do not let the fountain run when I'm not home, or at nite becoz of that. It loses water and could go dry and burn up the pump. The other problem is in winter. We are near Tupelo MS and it gets in teens every year, last year in single digits for a week. This was not a factor in N.O. and prob. not in Dallas. But we have to drain the fountain which it is not built for that, husband put a drain hole and plug (stopper) in so we could drain easily. All this is not a big deal. We love the look, the sounds, the birds love it. I recommend it.

We had a wall-mounted fountain before we did the addition. Had to plug it in in the garage. Now we have a bowl fountain that plugs into an outlet under the screened porch. It turns on with the flip of a switch. It's easy enough to clean. Just tip the bowl to empty the water.

I run the fountain whenever I'm working outdoors, sitting on the screened porch, or when it's nice enough to have the doors and windows open.

My mom has a fountain on her screen porch with all her potted plants, etc. She loves it (sound included) I'm sure what she thinks is easy may not be for everyone (she's pretty devout when it comes to chores) but its worth it to her.

Sure do and we love it! Have had it since 2002 and wouldn't be without it. First thing I want set up in spring and we will first be taking it down for the winter this weekend. Too many leaves falling into it now.

As it is large, we only add water daily or every other day, depending on sun/wind. With the 3 tiers the water does blow out or evaporate on those days.

Love the sound of it. We run it constantly. Only time it is turned off is when we go out of town for a weekend or longer.
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forgot to mention that I love laying in bed in the summer and listening to the fountain as I fall asleep. (The window you see in the picture is our bedroom) My daughter looks forward to visiting and hearing the fountain from the guest bedroom which also has a window looking out into the garden. She visited early last spring and was disappointed that we had not set up the fountain yet.

Call me a fountain addict:

One that is St Francis watering the animals from his hand.

One with lights that change colors and emits a small cloud.

A 3 tiered cement one that is located too far from a plug.

One that sprays high in the small fish pond.

Oh, I LOVE my fountain! It finally gave out this year though, so I'm on the hunt for a new one. There is one at Home Depot I really like that is on a big sale for about a hundred dollars. Only problem is, it has a flat back, so it looks like it's supposed to go against a wall and I want it in the garden. Going to work on solving that problem tomorrow. Wonder how it would work against my bamboo fence???

I had one that I loved, but three years ago our newly adopted dogs somehow pulled out the connecting piece between two sections and destroyed it. Maybe they didn't like the sound-lol. It was a three-tiered sort of zen cement fountain, but I could never find any way to fix it, so we used just the bottom section with the pump and piled rocks around the pump. Never was quite the same. I may try again now that the pups are calmer. I do love the sounds of water in the garden.

I had a fountain that we made out of a large urn. Had to continually add bleach because algae kept growing on the sides of the urn. :(

Then I had a wall fountain, which I had to add water to every day. It was in a spot protected from sun/wind, but I think the cats were drinking from it. I forgot to put water in it and burn up the pump. :(

Now I have a pond and a small 'fountain' spray at one end. So much easier! And I still get the sound (which I love). :)

I have one and I love the sound it makes. It's near an outlet and
my hose.
Mary lu, love your garden.

For those with algae issues ... a few drops of Fountec or any algaecide, once a week keeps the water clear

Here is a link that might be useful: Fountec

Natal, I love your fountain.
And Mary lu, I always look forward to seeing photos of your garden.
Renee