The Waterless Garden Fountain - Part 1

pampas grass waterless fountain — **In the center of a circular driveway the homeowner planted a fountain of Pampas Grass to “rise up and fall” over the edges of the planting bed in a home in Las Vegas.**

Fountains in the U.S. Southwest have almost become things of the past because of water restrictions. If however you have a yearning for that “falling and spilling over” effect you can create a simulated fountain using plants instead of cascading water.

I have two suggestions, but in this post I’ll start with the Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) fountain, pictured at the top. (Avoid planting the other Pampas Grass (Cortaderia jubata) which is an invasive weed. Given certain conditions–usually by a stream–it self-seeds and spreads wildly forcing out native plants.)

Here is how to make this waterless green fountain

You will need a raised garden bed for this design which you can create with stacked stones (real or artificial) or poured concrete as a containing wall. Ideally, it should be at least 8 to 10 feet long by 6 to 8 feet wide by about 1 foot high, but can, of course, be smaller.

Now for the planting: mound good garden soil in the bed where you want your “fountain” located. The mound of soil in the center should be somewhat higher than the soil nearer the edge of the “fountain”. Plant 4 or 5 Pampas grass plants on this raised bed including one at the center. Leave a generous space between the plants. Pampas grass grows very very fast to 8 to 10 feet tall in one season and has a graceful green arching shape – as if it is green “water” rising up and spilling back down to the earth. Toward the end of summer the grass will produce tall white plumes which add another 6 to 8 feet in height to your new grassy fountain.

Rock wall with deer grass — **If you want to use Deer Grass instead of Pampas Grass, here is an example of how it might look. There is a better photo of Deer Grass here.**

If you don’t have the large space required for a Pampas grass fountain, try doing a smaller version with Deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) or red Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum). The effect with red Fountain grass will not be quite the same, however because it doesn’t naturally have the “spill over” effect. (Avoid white fountain grass, also known as Buffel Grass, a highly invasive African species.)

The care of your new waterless fountain

Pampas grass is drought tolerant in the extreme. It needs almost no water at all. Once a year, in late Fall, Pampas grass should be cut back to 18 inches in height. The grass blade edges are very sharp so be sure to wear sturdy gloves and a heavy long sleeve shirt.

In the next post I’ll show another type of waterless fountain.