Can you show the plan of this? .... even if only a concept plan? If I were judging, I would want to see what the facade of the house looks like in the background when viewing fountain from the outside wall. What is the path material? I will mention that fountains splash wider than people think. I would not want paths that are too narrow, nor too small of a fountain pool. I would choose a dwarf cultivar of boxwood or consider using dwarf yaupon holly.

The path may be some sort of small pebbles, though I'm not certain. I will take a pic of the house from the yard and post it shortly.

Long story, no drawing. Here are some photos, which include the small patio this courtyard connects too off the covered patio. The small patio is coveted in the blue tarp.

Hi threeapples, the back of your house is outrageously wonderful!

I know I sound like a broken record, but do you have a landscape architect on this project? Drainage will surely be an issue and you want to get that right before any more walls are comstructed.

I've never seen a sunken parterre garden before, but I think it will be wonderful to look out on! Agree with your husband that dwarf box woods are your best bet.

Yes, we do have a landscape architect, but are making these decisions on our own. All the drainage systems have been designed and planned.

The parterre won't be sunken because the ground in the courtyard still needs to be lifted to grade. Or, maybe I'm misunderstanding.

Thanks for your compliment :) I love the back of the house as well.

Here are the two directions I am toying around with for the fountain. I much prefer the look of the "pool surround" with a simple and short spray or urn in the center, but that seems to be more of a custom job. It's easier to buy the whole unit with the tiered fountain and pool surround together, but I don't like it as much. Any thoughts on what's best for our space?

Here is a link that might be useful: something like this?

This post was edited by three3apples on Sun, Jul 6, 14 at 12:30

And here is what I'd do for the more custom option, though I still would need to find something to put in the center:

Here is a link that might be useful: pool surround

a Google search of "georgian revival fountain" shows several different styles. this isn't my style, so I'd hesitate to opine, but I think you should just choose the one you like the best, unless there's a particular reason you need to be authentic or something.

Pretty ambitious project for a first yard! Hope to see some further pictures when done.

The one you linked to looks a little "old world-y" to me, but I don't know much about fountains, just what I have seen traveling and at a few homes. I do think most people who install them at private homes tend to go overboard with the size, though your house and landscape can obviously take something ornate. Since Georgian style is more stately than ornate you may want something like the one linked below, which has it's own surround. No idea about how the size would fit, I just think the overall style would complement your architecture.

(I made the crowded comment above as pictures at the curbing link made me think you were going to try to put four of those "corner" looking arrangements around the fountain inside a larger pool / catch basin area for the fountain, which I now understand is not what you are doing!)

I'm now rethinking things and am toying around with the idea of a larger pool surround, eliminating the parterre beds, and just making this courtyard about the fountain with a green border around the interior perimeter of the main space. In this case We could go 9 or 10' in diameter maybe. Any thoughts?

Sorry, meant to give the link at the end of this post with my post above.

With respect to your most recent idea, three, I would say to start where everyone always advises....with how you intend to use the space. If it is something to look at from above, perhaps a bigger fountain and a border of dwarf box woods against a four foot wall would be a good scale to see from the second story of your house. The traditional path is of pea gravel, though, and from above that might look like a LOT of rocks and not enough green. Scale has never been my strong suit. Perhaps there is a landscape CAD program that would allow you to design it and then give a view from above?

If you envision dining near the fountain (seems unlikely because you already have several areas to dine al fresco) you'll need room for a table and chairs.
With small children, a parterre garden would be the perfect spot for an Easter egg hunt, so if you used it for something like that, or scavenger hunts at birthday parties, the boxwood outlines of the garden would be ideal with a smaller fountain at center.

It looks from your photo you have a sitting area and possibly an outdoor fireplace just outside the walkout basement, with steps up to the parterre garden. And from the first floor of the house you have a large covered porch opening out onto an open patio and the yard proper beyond, so there are plenty of places to sit and eat. Do you have plans for a pool at any point? That might help you decide how you wish the parterre/fountain area to function.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiered fountain

In order to better convey understanding of the space, I think you could also stand to add a picture of the garden area taken from somewhere near the column that overlooks it.

With your last post and its question, it sounds like you are definitely revisiting the concept stage of planning. Being that the space if finite and there is quite a bit being considered for installation into it, I would think that there can be no good way to work out the concept except on paper. Even if there are ideas in your head and they are fantastic, they cannot be refined and built until the ideas are transferred to paper. Therefore, when you ask "Any thoughts?" I'm thinking that the best thing you could do is show an accurate plan that shows the courtyard walls (including the house wall that fronts it) and steps. Post it devoid of other features (for others to use) and post another showing your ideas. If you are making the decisions about what goes in this space, you will need this base plan in order to work out the concept.

When I saw your first post, it seemed to me that you were squeezing quite a bit (too much) into the space. I would have liked to see the pool be a little larger. (But I cannot say how large because I do not have knowledge of the overall dimensions.) One "law" of landscaping that you will be unable to escape is that THINGS MUST FIT. If you squeeze too much into a space that isn't large enough, it will not be as good as if everything was to fit comfortably.

Regarding the fountains, my 2 cents prefers the pool surround and water movement that is minimal (like the cherub pouring water out of the jar or some such thing.) The tiered fountain will splash farther than the pool it's shown in.

We have two outdoor fireplaces, one on the covered patio and one at the walkout basement. Both of those areas can have dining furniture as can the patio connected to the coveted pitch. The courtyard is meant to be a transitional space between the house and woods and its aim is purely aesthetic. We have no plans for a swimming pool. I will look to see if we still have the scaled drawings, though they do not incorporate my recent aims.

The pool basin with simple spout are so much pricier than the tiered fountains. I cannot figure out why. I really prefer them because I think they are prettier and will work better with the very low wall of this area that is closest to the walkout patio. I'm thinking 7 or 8' in diameter.

I found a company online who makes stone "pool" surrounds and has an 8' option and 10' option in various granites. I'd do a fully pool, not just coping with a rubber membrane as you see in this photo, but you get the idea anyway. Not sure if I should also go for the urn or just do a spout in the center with no "feature." Any thoughts on that and also on which size is best for our 22' x 27' space? For reference, the three sets of stairs are 48" wide.

Additional viewpoints

The last picture is no good. I thought you'd be closer to the column (or beyond it ... in line with the center of the courtyard) taking a square-on shot so that the rectangle read more or less straightforward ... not as half of the courtyard at a totally wacky angle.

Who is going to design this space? You are "shopping" for what will go in it but not working out the details of how all the things that go in it fit together ... which must come before the shopping part. It may turn out you are shopping for the wrong thing. Someone must design this. One would not need just to know dimensions, but see how all parts relate to one another ... where the step locations are ... how the patio relates, etc. If you make decisions about all these things as if they're separate items and once it's built, they will fit together, well, that is asking for problems. Jeez, even well designed projects with everything worked out in detail can have problems. One should not go looking to guaranty that things will go haywire (... not fit ... too close ... wrong look, etc.) If you're going to skip the design phase and go directly to purchasing, then you'd be much better off hiring the LA you are already working with.

I couldn't access that side of the courtyard from above because it's not a safe area to climb on now. I will take a photo from the other side of the courtyard at the center steps tomorrow, however.

We have already hired a LA, but I like talking through ideas with others for additional opinions. He likes our ideas, has essentially proposed the same thing we're talking about now, but with a smaller fountain and with planting bed contents that I'm not interested in. We have been through the design phase for months and are going in circles.

This is what you see when you're on the ground looking toward the column area. It's dark now otherwise I'd try for a better shot.

It's nothing at all against discussing design ideas. But from reading between the lines, it seems no one's going to do the design. You've discounted the LA, but seem vague regarding many of the parameters and if you were going to do it, you'd be starting with a base plan. We would SEE the ideas (at least conceptually) and their implications. Then we could really discuss whether something is good, bad or has a fault that needs correcting.

If you can't fit the whole garden site in a single picture, pan the camera and take pictures that overlap slightly (while staying in the same position.) This way, each picture can be correlated with the others and the basic site can be reasonably understood.

I'm thinking just to do an armillary sphere on a pedestal since a fountain would be unused much of the year here. Thoughts?

I think a sundial would be far more interesting, especially to your children.

Have you ever looked at a labyrinth? The modern ones are like meditation gardens, with pathways made of crushed stone (pea gravel is traditional) or flagstone. This is not the kind of labyrinth people get lost in, with high hedges so you can't see where you're going, but rather is meant to be a spiritual exercise in concentration. If you google labyrinth and landscape design you will see many of these.

A sun dial at the terminus of a labyrinth would have both practical use and meaning in the context of the design..... just a thought.

If you do something like this, I think that evergreens anchoring the four corners would give you some green relief.

I like the labyrinth idea, but not for that space. I really want a fountain and am trying to come up with another place for one.

I posted this on the other side yesterday and wasn't sure where this discussion was active. Basically I scanned your two posts, but my first thought was that your space was way too crowded with the 4 parterres, and since it looks like you nixed those in favor of the border, can I offer another idea? How about a triangular bed in each corner? I would put a dwarf taller plant (maybe a conifer like a soft cryptomeria) in the corner flanked by the boxwoods for some interest. It would better balance the space instead of just a 'ring' of boxwoods. There are also some really nice variegated dwarf boxwoods (I have some around our pond) that would be a nice complement to your stonework. It would also give your fountain a little more space, not to mention more walking room. You need at least 3' of pathway.

I would keep the center fountain/pool/whatever small-ish, but ensure there is some height there in keeping with your house. I love the look of an urn with your home. Are you going to be doing the maintenance on a fountain yourselves? If so, an urn or vessel does require some periodic maintenance to keep leaves out and algae at bay. Not much, just some scrubbing, etc, and winterizing, depending on your climate. Something to keep in mind. It will be beautiful no matter which you choose.

Thank you, I really like the triangle bed idea!
I'm now pursuing armillary spheres instead. New England Garden ornament has a working one, but it is thousands of dollars. I found some gorgeous ones made in the UK that are considerably cheaper, but I'm not sure if they are properly calibrated. I don't want one that isn't functional!