remove those weeds and plant some vegetation around the fountain.

And then add some chairs so you can sit and watch the world go by !

Maybe some small solar lights in with the plantings too.

what does the rest of the yard look like? maybe that's not the best spot???????? but you could certainly dress it up somehow.

(There's a hole in the bucket, dear 'lijah, dear 'lijah! )
Perhaps on a table or nestled into the front of a bed; I think this is too small to be an effective focal point.

Surround the fountain with plants and flowers and it will dress it up nicely. A couple adirondack chairs and you can sit back and enjoy.

I would try to build up and around the "bucket" if it were mine and make it look like it was a part of the ground, like it was sunk into the earth. Then plant flowers around it.

We are in the process of making the area around it into a flower bed - just haven't gotten if finished yet so there will definitely be flowers. The grass in this part if the yard doesn't grow well at all. Maybe that will help it stand out some? I was thinking if I added a small pond in front if it and made the water flow out of the barrel it would stand out more?

Photo of the entire area - hope you can make it out with the sun!

This area would be wonderful as a flower bed. Can you sink that bucket into the ground??

We can. A few inches or sunk in all the way?

Why not add a ton of plants around it so that is it level with them or slightly above

What ever made you choose a small plastic bucket for your water feature ? First of all weed and re-seed your lawn. If you want a water feature, a tiered traditional styled fountain would better suit the style of your house. Also, it appears that side yard drops off onto your driveway below....not safe. Plantings like a boxwood hedge or a railing matching your porch railing along that side would add interest and safety. Then I'd place the fountain on the opposite side of the walkway. with a flower bed around it. Ditch the bucket.

judygilpin, sometimes posters have only a certain amount they can spend, and come to this site to pick our brains on how they can work with what they have, not what we think they should have. They certainly don't expect to be berated about the choices they have made. Even if you have a suggestion about something that they haven't thought of, perhaps you could say it in a kinder way.

Almost all the way, and then surround it with pavers and low-growing groundcover, perhaps like this:

How about something like the following from Houzz pages, you could do pic 1 and 2 together, pebbles around the pot with stepping stones along the empty space you have there:

Superimposed on your photo, it might look like this:

thx, I corrected the tone a bit to blend with the photo.

handymam, These people have a very attractive home. I am aware that price is an issue for most people, but if one posts for ideas that's what they want. Many of the ideas given as suggestions are much more costly than what I suggested. Perhaps they could use the bucket feature in the backyard....it just dosen't work in the front...much too country for their attractive colonial style home. My biggest concern for them, however, is the long drop into the driveway below. Sorry if my previous posting was not as tactful as you feel it should have been.

We already have plants in place a long the wall to make a hedge and like I stated above we are redoing that entire side of the yard with plants because the soil isn't great in that area. We chose this to use because I had already purchased it as a planter and didn't like it in the location we had wanted it in. Budget wise we can't do a lot at one time but piece by piece. I love the superimposed picture! That idea really adds to the space! Thanks so much for all the info!

Backyard would be wonderful but we never use that spot since there are so many trees back there.

Star - how did you do the imposing? I would love to look at this on a photo of the front of our house to look at siding options for our addition!

I made a 3D model of the proposed flower bed in Trimble Sketchup, using your photo as a "photo match" background. The 3d portion was then rotated to match the perspective of the photo. With a couple of good photos of your house taken at a 45-degree angle off the left corner, I (or you) could make a 3D model of the entire house. At that point, you can try on different paint colors and garden options until the cows come home...

If I try it and can't get it to work would you be able to do that? I have been looking for a program to do that with forever!

Yes probably. Here is a thread I was on a day ago, showing what can be done with a better photo (go to the bottom of the thread)... I used the actual photo as the texture on the front of the house, but could also draw all the windows etc, which is what allows you to paint it as you wish..

....... discussions/467670/What-should-I-do-with-concrete-patio-
Here was the final photo I posted (there was nothing at all in the back yard before)

Standind all alone sure isn't the thing :) you need to do a bit of planting around it and adding some rocks would help a lot

http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4574699543855166&pid=1.7

I would place it at the street end of your walk, in the area with the red bark shown in the second picture you posted. (You see this area only if you click to enlarge the picture!)

The red bark will help the black of the barrel to stand out. Then I would plant the semi circle area next to it (lawn side of rocks) with purple fountain grass. That would mimic the fountain and looks lovely swaying in the breeze.

If you're having trouble growing grass, you should consider EasyTurf - our grass looks and feels like the real thing, without the hassle of watering, mowing, fertilizing, weeding, etc ... our drainage is unmatched, which is key to a natural or synthetic lawn. Check us out at www.easyturf.com, and let me know if you have any questions ... I'd be happy to help.
Cheers!
George
http://www.houzz.com/projects/82915/Backyard-Installations

Sstar that program is exactly what I need for all our projects we have to do here - pretty sure it would save my sanity :) I do like the idea of pulling it closer to the red bark, but then on the porch we can't hear the water which was on of the reasons I liked it! We added some plants today and recessed it into the ground. I will post some more pics tomorrow.

With a little ground work I think your fountain could look fabulous. I photo shopped in some plants and mulch..

It would also look nice to make a small seating area between your two small trees with a rustic bench or a couple of chairs and a small table....

Help!! I can't stop ... hahaha

Ann thank you, I love all these! I am attaching some photos of the after. We still have some more plants to put in, and a small bench seat or our swing. I am trying to not go overboard on flowers in that area since the ones that are in there now will continue to spread over time! Thank you all for the wonderful ideas. Ann - I wish I could photoshop that well .. it would save me a ton of headache trying to decide what would look good!

Here are a few after shots of our water feature. I am in love with it now. We chose to sink it into the ground, add stone and mulch around the plants and will eventually be putting in the swing or bench seating to the side of it. We have had every single person in the neighborhood come by and look at it, and they have all fallen in love with our yard!

One last shot of the whole front yard! (can you tell I love our house lol)

Yay ! I do love a happy ending !!!! Looks fab ! Great job !!!

How nice you are sharing it with the neighborhood! Bet the birds like it, too!

Very nice!

Next time you are at the garden center check out mounding grasses. They would look nice in the area behind your fountain. I love them because many are so feathery. They sway and give movement in even a slight breeze.

Yes! And grasses are soooo easy to maintain. They just get better each year. Don't go too tall though. Fountain looks much better now!!!! Happy gardening;)

And some grasses will make it thru winter and some won't. Alas, fountain grass in my area doesn't, so I plant them in containers only. But Mexican feather grass is very hardy.

Where are you pcmom? We are in Canada. Same thing here. Some grasses are annuals and some perennials.

I live outside of Redding, California. Very hot and dry summers, but winters have temps that go below freezing enough to zap fountain grass (which I love).

It looks great and as you said the plants that are thre will grow and spread.. I started with almost a bare water feature 2 years ago and it is amazing how quickly it has filled in.. I live in MS. so lots of sunshine. Here's mine now.

Ann - I love your brick and yard match as well! I can't wait to see it in a few years when the plants fill in. We did get some kind of blue grass ( I can't remember the name off hand) to fill in behind and some ground cover to finish off the area. I am happy with it ... now on to the next project! Thank you all for your input!