Water Features & Fire Pits Brisbane

Stone water wall spilling into a dark pond with tropical planting behind

06 — Service

Water, Fire & Feature Elements

Every garden worth remembering has one element that does not need to be there. Water and fire are the two that reliably earn the space.

Every water feature and fire pit is one of a kind, designed around the space it sits in and built by Duncan, so no two gardens end up with the same centrepiece.

Ponds and water walls, fountains and water bowls, fire pits and fire bowls, and designer Corten panels and planters.

Water does two jobs. It moves, which draws the eye, and it makes noise, which is genuinely useful on a block near a road — a water wall does more for the perceived quiet of a courtyard than any amount of fencing.

Fire extends the hours. A fire pit is the reason a garden gets used in July, and a circle of seating around one is frequently the most used square metres on the whole block. Both get designed in from the start, because both need services run before the hard surfaces go down.

Ponds and water walls
Fountains and water bowls
Fire pits and fire bowls
Designer Corten panels and planters

See the work Enquire about this

Detail

The elements

01

Water walls

A sheet or spill of water down a stone or steel face. The best noise-for-money in a garden and the element that most reliably makes a small courtyard feel considered.

02

Ponds

Still or planted water. More commitment than a water wall and a different kind of reward — a pond changes with the season in a way a fountain does not.

03

Fire pits and bowls

Built-in or freestanding. Built-in lets the seating be designed around it, which is what turns it from an object into a room.

04

Corten panels and planters

Weathering steel as sculpture. Panels, planters and blades that give a planted bed a structure to work against.

Budget

What moves the number

No two gardens are the same job, so there is no list price. What there is, is a straight answer about what drives the number — and a concept with costings in writing before you commit to anything.

01

Access and site

Services are the hidden half. Water features need power and, usually, a water supply and an overflow; fire features may need a gas run. Those get trenched before the paving goes down, which is exactly why these elements belong in the design rather than being added later.

02

Scale and structure

Scale changes the engineering, not just the size. A wall-mounted water bowl and a three-metre water wall are different projects — pump sizing, waterproofing and structural support all step up.

03

Materials and finish

Retrofitting costs more than building it in. Adding a water feature to finished paving means lifting finished paving.

Tell Duncan the budget you are comfortable with and the concept gets designed to it. The work can be staged — plenty of gardens start as one wall, one path or one bed.

Start with a consultation

The work

Water, Fire & Feature Elements — built

Honed black stone water blade spilling a clear sheet of water into a pool edged with tropical planting — Black stone water blade

Natural rock pond with water hyacinth and lily pads, fed by a spill over weathered driftwood — Natural pond and water plants

Copper water bowl with a lit sculptural fountain spilling at night — Lit copper water bowl

Stacked stone water wall spilling through three spouts into a pool — Stone water wall

See the full gallery

Questions

Water, Fire & Feature Elements — answered

Less than people expect, if they are built properly. Correct pump sizing, an accessible filter and a sensible water volume do most of the work. The maintenance problems usually trace back to a feature that was undersized for the job it was asked to do.

It will change how you perceive it, which in practice is what matters. Moving water gives your ear something nearer and more pleasant to attend to — on a block near a road it does more for the feel of a courtyard than fencing does.

Built-in, if the design allows, because the seating can then be built around it. Freestanding is the right answer where you want the space to stay flexible.

Yes, but it is more expensive than building them in, because the services have to reach the feature and that usually means lifting paving that is already finished.

Where

Featured areas

Based in Dayboro and designing gardens across Brisbane and Moreton Bay — every one different, wherever it is.

Every area covered

More

The rest of the work

01

Got a space that isn’t working?

Dayboro, Samford, Moreton Bay and across Brisbane’s inner north — Ashgrove, Grange, Nundah and surrounds.

Book a consultation 0431 024 000

Call or text

0431 024 000

Duncan answers his own phone.

Email

simplyintreeging@live.com

Photos of the space help.

Water features and fire pits in Brisbane.

Water, Fire & Feature Elements