With the arrival of green grass and budding tulips, are you still left wondering what to do with that big, lifeless hunk of dirt and weeds you call a back yard? This year, think outside the box and dream big with a project that can change the entire landscape of your yard while adding to your enjoyment of your home.

Water gardens, Jamie Beyer says, “are extremely inviting to adults as well as kids. There’s something about the sparkle of water, the sound of water that is very inviting. It’s an inherent, primordial thing.” Beyer, an operator at the Ames Power Plant, moonlights as a water garden hobbyist and a master gardener for Iowa State University Extension. When it comes to installing a water garden in your back yard, he says, “the sky is the limit,” from $400, homeowner-installed water fountains to $100,000 pond systems.

First evaluate what type of water garden – a fountain, a container water garden, a pond or waterfall – best fits the style of your existing garden, the landscape of your yard and your personal taste and preferences.

“You can put them just about anywhere,” said Tammy Champlin, a landscape designer for Heard Gardens Ltd. in West Des Moines. Back yards that slope toward the house are well-suited for waterfalls and other cascading water features, providing an enjoyable view from the house, while flat yards can be conducive to a pond. “It’s preferable that they be in a little bit of shade because the sun will help the algae grow much quicker,” Champlin said.

Several years ago, there was a trend toward large, extravagant pond setups, Champlin says, but the maintenance those water gardens required swayed many homeowners in the direction of container water gardens, which are simple in-ground “containers” with a liner or rocks, and pondless water gardens, in which water is pumped over the top of a boulder, urn, well pump, watering can or other feature and cascades through a bed of gravel and into a covered, underground basin.

Pondless water gardens, or splash fountains, are child-safe, easier to maintain and can be installed by a homeowner for as little as $400.

Homeowners, in installing a container water garden, should also consider features such as fish, which eat mosquito larvae, and water plants. Though many people think of coy when selecting water garden fish, Beyer says they often chew on a water garden’s plants. He prefers calico shubunkins, which can live to be 15 years old, and says red comets are suitable and inexpensive.

Hearty water plants – Beyer prefers the yellow water lily – can sustain the harsh Midwestern winters, while tropical water plants provide striking blooms but do not easily survive the winter. Still tropical water plants are often “night bloomers,” and may be suited for water garden hobbyists who work during the day and want to enjoy the blooms in the evening. He prefers the Victoria water lily, with leaves that are five to six feet in diameter. Though they cost about $150 when purchased potted, their seeds are available for free on the Internet.

“Surround the pond with moisture-tolerant perennials such as irises and monarda,” Champlin said. Also, incorporate grasses and hedges to give the water garden a more natural appearance and use ground covers and low-growing plants to cover boulders or to soften up a waterfall or the edge of a pond.

Keep taller plants and trees toward the back of the water garden so as not to obstruct your view. Beyer recommends the pagoda dogwood tree, which he says simulates the layering impression created by water.