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<\/a>Blue sky, puffy white clouds and autumn colour are reflected in the Skating Pond at Glen Villa.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Reflections show the world around us. They can reveal aspects of a scene we might otherwise miss. They are — or can be — great additions to any garden. But using them well\u00a0requires thought and planning.<\/p>\n
Water is one of the easiest reflecting surfaces to include in a garden. But before proceeding willy-nilly, consider the effect you want to achieve. Do you want the water to reflect the sky alone, or to say something about the setting of the garden, as the tiny pool in this English garden does?<\/p>\n
<\/a>A square pool surrounded by boxwood at Gothick House, the garden of photographer Andrew Lawson, reflects the sky and the surrounding rooftops.<\/p><\/div>\n
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You may want to avoid reflecting some views: telephone poles, power lines, garbage. Or you may choose to include them deliberately, to make a statement about your garden and its position in the\u00a0world.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Garbage is reflected in the waters of the Nile in Egypt. I doubt this reflection\u00a0was chosen deliberately. But it does make a statement.<\/p><\/div>\n
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What you choose to reflect is one question. What you want\u00a0the reflection to accomplish is another. Do you want to show a mirror image? Depending on the angle of the view and the angle of the light, still water reflects what is around it quite accurately. Or it can. \u00a0Sometimes the reflection is clearer and more striking than the thing itself. \u00a0In the photo below, the sky appears bluer in reflection than it is\u00a0in reality.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The intensity of colour is affected by the angle of light. Here the actual sky appears washed out in comparison to its reflection. The trees also\u00a0look greener in the water.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Still water can play tricks with colour; moving water can do even more. \u00a0Trees and autumn foliage become as abstracted as a painting — not in oil or acrylic but in coloured water.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Water moved by the wind and a light current produces swirling colours: \u00a0an abstract watercolour.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Turbulent water reflects motion alone.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Water pours through the glen that gave Glen Villa its name.<\/p><\/div>\n
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But even still water doesn’t always offer a good reflecting surface. \u00a0At certain times of the day or in certain seasons, this canal at Broughton Grange in England may mirror\u00a0the sky, the trees or\u00a0the plantings around\u00a0it. But when I was there, it was a flat pewter surface that reflected greyness and dampened my appreciation of the garden, designed by the Chelsea Gold Medal\u00a0winner, Tom Stuart-Smith.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A canal moves through dense plantings on one level of the Walled Garden at Broughton Grange in England.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The clarity of the water matters — the clearer the surface, the sharper the reflection — and clarity can be a function of water temperature. I took the photo below at the end of an October day, when the water temperature in the Skating Pond at Glen Villa had dropped enough to kill off the vegetation that grows in warmer months.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Nothing is growing in this cold water, so the reflection is particularly vivid..<\/p><\/div>\n
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Muddy water or pools\u00a0where the surface is mostly covered with vegetation are not good reflectors. Water that sparkles in sunlight isn’t either — unless you want to send a message about light alone. Dark water is different. When dark water is still and calm,\u00a0it captures reflections superbly and can add an air of mystery to any garden tableau. From straight on, the undulating\u00a0hedges at Veddw, a garden in Wales, suggest a labyrinthine\u00a0path leading into the woods beyond.\u00a0Reflected,\u00a0they\u00a0suggest a watery road\u00a0to a dark and hidden world.<\/p>\n
<\/a>This reflecting pond is at Veddw, Wales, a garden created by Anne Wareham and Charles Hawes.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Using water to reflect the surroundings can do more than enhance a garden and double the viewing pleasure. This Chinese-style bridge that forms a perfect circle when reflected in the water\u00a0alludes to other gardens in other places, built in other times. The allusion connects the North American garden to an historic Chinese garden tradition and, in doing so, adds richness\u00a0to the experience of being\u00a0there.<\/p>\n