Transforming Our Garden with the Eastern Connections Pinky Granite Water Feature
Pinky Granite Water Feature Garden Transformation – By Rachel Ducker
There’s something about the sound of running water that completely changes any garden. Whether you’ve got acres of outdoor space, or a small patio that could benefit from a statement piece, a water feature is a great little addition that will make the whole space look that little bit more thought through.
We recently made a few updates to our garden and included the Eastern Connections 75cm Twist Pinky Granite Water Feature from GardenSite with solar upgrade kit and black pebbles – and it’s made the biggest difference to this corner of the garden.
About GardenSite
GardenSite is one of the oldest family owned online gardening retailers established over 60 years ago. The online store has been trading on the internet since 1999, meaning it’s an old stalwart of online gardening in the UK.
Today GardenSite boasts in excess of 12,000 products for the garden, from furniture to greenhouses, sheds to structures, ornament and even landscaping products – and of course water features! Despite being a major player online, GardenSite is still family run with good customer service and plenty of practical gardening knowledge.
It was this breadth of choice that helped us get all the necessary accessories to get our feature up and running on next to our new patio.
The Eastern Connections 75cm Twist Pinky Granite Water Feature
Firstly there was just something different about the design of this water feature compared to a typical garden fountain.
Instead of something a bit ornate or traditional, the design of the Eastern Connections 75cm Twist Pinky Granite Water Feature is more contemporary with a twisted column effect and we felt it would look rather smart against the greenery, paving stones and more modern garden scheme that we have.
This water feature is actually made of real solid granite, in various shades of natural pink, brown and white. Like most natural stone the water feature has individual colour variations along with shape differences, which mean every one will be subtly unique.
Alternating the textures was something I particularly liked. You find sections of the stone with a more rugged, chipped finish set against parts where the stone has been smoothed and polished. The water travels smoothly over each of these parts and this coupled with the twists within the stone creates movement with a really quite gentle trickling sound.
Standing about 75cm tall and 22cm across at its widest point it made quite a statement without overwhelming the garden space. However as you can imagine it’s solid granite, not hollow imitation stone, and so it weighs roughly 100kg so something to consider before lifting.
The Solar Upgrade
We opted to purchase the solar water feature upgrade which means we didn’t have to try and route a power cable out to the water feature across the lawn.
The solar package provides everything you need to turn the granite column into a water feature, including; a water pump that has a variable flow, weatherproof battery bank, solar panel complete with a ground stake, reservoir sump, a steel grid as well as the associated pipe work and pump connector. The battery bank means the energy stored can provide running time when directly sunlight is not directly available but rather used whenever convenient.
No lighting facility was included with this particular model, but for us its main purpose was the flexibility to place it wherever we wanted in the garden without having to fuss with mains electricity.
Installing the Water Feature
You might have thought something of this substance would be a significant landscaping task, well actually it wasn’t that complicated at all. The granite column had a hole pre-drilled from the top through to the center so required no drilling. You simply have to site the reservoir underneath your water feature which you then fill with the steel grid placed across its opening.
The pump then rests in this reservoir of water and attaches to the pipe running through the middle of the granite column. Finally you simply place your solar panel within reach of an appropriate spot and your solar unit will start working within minutes assuming its sunny!
The primary factor to be aware of when installing the actual unit though was that it weigh’s around 100kg and therefore is definitely a two person-strong or perhaps even three-person operation when moving into its rightful position. Once the main granite column was sited however, attaching the pump and connecting it was a considerably less complex process.
The feature as a whole is a contained system with the water simply being gathered in the reservoir below and fed back up around the feature again.
Finishing It with Black Decorative Pebbles
We added about 15kg of black decorative pebbles around the base of the feature. Although this may seem like a minor addition, it makes the world of difference visually. The black pebble creates an interesting contrast against the subtle pink tones of the granite and importantly helps to hide the reservoir and steel grid beneath.
When both have been added it is as though the granite fountain has simply emerged out of the decorative stone.
Adding surrounding plants around the features can make the whole aspect even softer and help to make the feature look like it has been there for ever rather than just sitting on top of the area.
A simple but striking Garden Feature
Of all the positives, one of the main things we have actually loved about installing the Eastern Connections twist water feature is the atmosphere it has created within this corner of the garden. The subtle sound of running water is incredibly relaxing especially when sat out with your morning coffee and we have definitely transformed a bland patch of garden into something that appears more finished off.
The natural granite in particular means that the water feature doesn’t look at all manufactured or “fiddly” in any way and the varied colouring works beautifully when against the existing plants in the garden; the twisted column structure gives it just enough contemporary shape to be noticed without being too outlandish.
If you have been contemplating creating a statement in your own garden without the prospect of a major landscaping project, a self-contained water feature can prove a remarkably effective choice.
The Eastern Connections 75cm Twist Pinky Granite Water Feature is available from GardenSite both individually, or with upgrade kits to convert them to mains electric or solar powered systems.
We opted for the natural granite as part of the solar powered system, coupled with the simpler black decorative pebbles to give us a contemporary focal point in the garden that was easy to install and gives us a calmer spot to sit once the kids have finished with the garden space for the day!
