Water features and garden lighting
Rills, ponds and reflective pools by day; layers of low voltage light for the evenings. The two things that change a garden most.
Water and light are the two elements that change how a garden feels more than anything else you can build. We design and build both — rills, ponds, reflective pools and fountains, and the low voltage lighting that lets you use the garden after the day job.
Both are infrastructure as much as beauty: lined, filtered, wired and switched properly at build stage, which is why they belong with a design and build company rather than a weekend project.
Still water, moving water
A reflective pool gives a garden a second sky; a rill gives it sound and a line to follow; a pond gives it wildlife within a season. We build formal water in stone-edged basins and informal ponds lined and planted as habitat, each with filtration and access for cleaning designed in from day one.
We site water where it earns its place — visible from the house, safe where children play, and level-controlled so it does not flood the terrace in a wet Hertfordshire winter.
Lighting designed in layers
Good garden lighting is quiet: stepped light for safety, washes on texture and planting, a focused pool of light over the dining terrace or outdoor kitchen, and dark skies kept dark. We use low voltage systems, buried conduit, and warm colour temperatures that let the planting read as planting, not as display.
Because we build the garden, cable runs and transformer positions are planned before the paving — not threaded through it afterwards.
Built to be lived with
Pumps, filters and control gear are accessible for service; lighting is zoned so one switch runs the evening and another the bins. We leave you a plan of everything buried under the garden, which future-you will thank us for. From Hertford to Cambridge, it is the details below the surface that decide how water and light behave for years.
Are ponds safe with children?
Design makes them safe: raised edging, gently sloping margins, and siting within sight of the terrace. Where a pond is not appropriate we build raised reflective pools or wall fountains instead.
How much does a water feature cost to run?
Modern pumps are low-wattage — typically a few pounds a month in season. Reflective pools without moving water cost almost nothing to run.
Can you add lighting to an existing garden?
Yes, though the results are always better when it is designed with the build: cable routes, load positions and switch points are far cheaper in the ground than under it.
What is a reflective pool?
A still, dark, shallow basin whose whole purpose is the reflection — of the sky, a tree, the house. Depth of around 15 to 20 centimetres, black liner, and a dead-level edge in stone.
Do water features need much looking after?
A well-built one needs an hour or two a month in season — mostly keeping filters clear and topping up in summer. We design every feature so the working parts can be reached without dismantling it.
Start your project
Arrange a design visit and we will walk the garden with you, listen to how you want to live in it, and set out what a design and build would involve.