Employee Chris Rexroad trims up plants in a garden at Water's Edge, 847 Ind. With no weeding, watering, mulching or composting, water gardens take much less time than perennial, vegetable or annual plots. Below: Water lilies, with their picturesque blooms and floating foliage, are a staple in any water garden.

There’s nothing quite as soothing as the sound of water gurgling and splashing in the landscape.

Whether it be a minimalist bubbler in a private corner, a stream snaking its way through the garden or a completely stocked pond that’s teeming with an aquatic ecosystem, the options are endless as to the types and methods of water features you can create. As long as the vessel is free of holes and can hold water, the sky’s the limit.

I think some gardeners feel that a water feature is bound to be yet another area that requires excessive amounts of upkeep. In fact, the opposite is true. Water gardening takes much less time than perennial, vegetable or annual gardens. There’s no weeding, watering, mulching or composting.

Granted, there are a few tasks required to maintain a water feature. But I find them almost meditative to do – like skimming the pond for fallen leaves and debris or plucking a spent lily bloom after it has faded.

This weekend, the Sunflower Water Garden Society is playing host to its annual tour. A $10 ticket works as an all-access pass to 16 gardens – 16 gardens to steal ideas from, ask questions about and simply admire.

If you’ve been entertaining the idea of creating a water feature but need a little push – some instruction, maybe some inspiration – the tour should satisfy those desires. In the meantime, here are a few helpful hints to consider when planning a water feature:

¢ Function: Are you seeking water in the garden for the sound? Maybe the aquatic plants and amphibians are fascinating to you. Are you attempting to attract birds and other wildlife?

¢ Placement: Location and size matter. If you’re hoping to have a bevy of lotus blooms, you’ll need a sunny location. If you’re more interested in hearing the water, position it close to the house. If a year-round view is a necessity, explore the garden by looking out your home’s windows.

¢ Drainage: If your water garden were to overflow from a massive deluge, it would be a disaster if all that excess water ended up in your finished basement. Make sure your new pond won’t block or dam existing drainage.

¢ Power source: Extension cords are a no, no for water gardening, so you may have to provide power by building a trench to lay cable and calling an electrician to install the juice. Keep in mind you’ll need enough power for the water pump and possibly lights and a water vacuum. You might even invest in a de-icer for the winter.

¢ Style and materials: This is the biggest head-scratcher. Do you want something formal or natural, simplistic or complicated? Something made of stone or gummite, concrete or brick? A gorgeous urn you bought in a foreign land or a creek that seems to have no beginning or end?

And what about maintaining a water feature? Here are a few steps you’ll need to learn to dance the water garden tango:

¢ Inspect the garden: You’ll want to do this anyway because you’ll find a water feature intensely fascinating, but be sure to notice water running off in an unintended direction. You might have to reposition some rocks. Is it possible there’s a leak that’s causing the water level to decrease abnormally? Is the flow consistent? If not, the pump could be clogged. Are plants and fish healthy and disease-free?

¢ Top the pond: Water will evaporate when temperatures rise and it hasn’t rained. When that happens, you’ll need to add some water. Be sure to de-chlorinate in the process, using dechlorination chemicals found at any store that sells pond supplies. Simply follow the instructions per the amount of water in your pond.

¢ Clean the pump: A pump has screens that are easy to remove and rinse off with the hose. This will be a regular chore, performed no less than once a month. You will always want to turn off your pump when cleaning it.

¢ Skim the pond: I actually find this task quite relaxing. Just grab leaves and other debris with a little net to avoid clogging up your pump.

¢ Plants: Plants will need to be cut back to an inch or two and sunk to the lowest depths of the pond in the winter and raised and placed on the upper shelves in the spring. Your pond must be at least 24 inches deep to support plants in the winter.

¢ Turn off flow in the winter: The rocks that make up waterfalls, streams and fountains can crack in the winter, so it’s best to have your pump just bubble at the surface so the water does not freeze completely. This will also keep your plants and fish from freezing.