The wonder of water feature design

garden design

For us, the Achilles heel of any garden design is the water feature design. Once upon a time I was exceptionally ambitious with my water feature designs, sometimes with headache inducing results, and have had to tame myself over the years. Water seems to have a mind of its own and often does something unexpected. For the inexperienced, bespoke water features can be tricky to get right, and there are specialist companies out there whose sole purpose is the design and production of water features. Which is why I find Charybdis by William Pye so awe-inspiring.

water feature design - Charybdis

William Pye is a sculptor who has been producing work since the 1960s. He has always been intrigued by themes of reflection which naturally led to using water in his work, exploring its movement and our control over it.

I love many of his pieces – not least because I am big fan of the fusion of art and gardens – but Charydbis in particular caught my eye. I love the sheer balls of the piece. It makes a bold statement about the sheer power of water and its clever positioning, with the steps wrapping around it amphitheatre-style, encourages the user to get in close and engage with it. The fact that this impressive feature of water engineering is as much sculpture as water feature is exciting as it gives a much needed shake-up to the traditional idea of the tame or twee water feature found in many gardens and public spaces .