If you have a natural stream running through your garden then a bridge can be a wonderful garden water feature as they make a lovely focal point. It can also work across artificial streams or cascades that use a high-powered pump to transfer the water to the top of the slope.
There are many different styles of simple bridges that can be used in the garden and two of those styles are plank bridges and bridges with hand rails.
Plank bridges are a very simple design feature and easily created with standard timber planks that create a rudimentary bridge. They are very natural looking and so fit brilliantly into informal garden spaces and architectural gardens alike because of their simple shape and form and straight edges. If you have a bog garden then they are a wonderfully cheap way to form walkways and with the help of chicken wire or carving grooves into planks, can give good grip on the planks when they are wet and slippery. The major downfall with this type of bridge is that they require very regular maintenance in order to ensure safety and prolong the lifetime of the planks.
Bridges with handrails can come in many different designs and forms so a detailed search is needed to find one that will fit perfectly into your garden as a water feature. These types of bridges normally come with either a gentle arch or in a level format but they need a very solid footing on either side of the stream that they straddle across. They can be built from many different materials such as simple timber construction, masonry, brick or stone for that picture book feel. Although some timber construction comes in a do it yourself format it is likely that you should employ a professional builder to construct it unless you have the necessary experience as it can be quite difficult to build. Unfortunately this means that it can turn out to be quite an expensive feature of your garden design but in the end will surely be worth it. If you opt for the timber do it yourself kits then you may save money initially on purchasing your garden water feature but that will soon be spent on maintaining the bridge on a regular basis.
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