Paul Marshall: Babbling brook garden
Apparently, Paul has always been completely obsessed by water. Paul and his partner, Tricia, bought their current house because of the Koi carp pond - a massive pond, which is almost a lake. The only problem is that it doesn't belong to them!

Paul works six days a week in a carpet shop and spends his one day off in the garden, dreaming of the water feature to end all water features - a natural stream. He's even drawn up some pretty ambitious plans, but he's never had the time to turn them into reality...

Ross's plan
The stream starts at the top end of the garden, meanders underneath the bridge, and ends up at the gathering area where the pump is hidden under a large boulder. The planting scheme needed to be quite dramatic to withstand the marshy texture beneath, so Ross used 'marginal planting' (plants which thrive in the water).

The water turned the garden into a perfect sensory treat, and was harnessed to create a contrast between still and running areas. The stream channel Ross dug was 25 cm deep, and surrounded by an array of tall grasses. The addition of a platform area and sculpted mound accented the water's movement upwards, while the starting bank added to the dramatic impact.