(lively shaker music) >>Many of us who live in Virginia have a pond, a stream, lake, or other natural water source to enjoy in our backyard landscapes.

But many of us also live in small places or places that just don't have access to water.

And so one of the things we can do is bring water to our landscapes.

That could be a small feature, like a self-contained fountain or little pond system that you put on your deck.

You'd plug it in and have the sound of water, and that moving water might attract birds to your back deck.

You can also put a much larger pond in, like the one that's behind me, that's dug in, and then deep enough to support fish and plants.

This particular landscape is really enjoying a mix of sun and shade, and one of the things that's very flexible about water features is that they will do well in either spot.

Depending on how much sun you have, you may need to add water more frequently if you're in full sun and make certain plant choices to make sure that they, in the water and around your pond feature, will tolerate that full sun.

Like the water lilies, which have an array of colors to choose from when you're making purchases or finding them.

To cardinal flower, which is a Virginia native that is super deep red, pickerelweed, which is a light purple and also native.

Fish are a wonderful addition to a pond, giving lots of color and life.

But if you're not interested in having fish in the pond, don't worry, if you don't have them, both frogs and salamanders will occupy your space, laying their eggs.

They usually avoid places with fish because the fish are predators for them.

So you can have this natural landscape, natural creatures come in.

Once you have that water and sound, you're going to see mammals, like raccoons, opossum, and deer, if they're in your neighborhood, maybe drinking, which is a wonderful thing to see.

And if you make part of your water feature shallow, so not very deep, maybe just an inch or two deep, then you'll see your birds start to bathe and drink.

Most birds won't enter water that goes over their feet, they're very fearful of drowning.

So having that little spot where it's nice and shallow for your birds, you'll really enjoy getting to see them as well.

So water features have all sorts of added benefits for your home and garden landscape.

So think about anything from a very small, little fountain you could add to a much larger pondscape if you've got the space for it.

You'll really enjoy the sound of the water and all of the interests that it attracts.

Happy gardening.