Planting installation in Novato, CA is usually judged on the day the crew finishes, which is the one day it tells you almost nothing. 

A bed planted badly and a bed planted well look broadly similar in week one. The difference shows up in the second summer, and it is decided mostly by work that happened before any plant came out of its pot and by what was done in the months after.

There are features that improve a garden visually. And there are features that change it experientially. A water fountain does both.

The movement of water across stone introduces sound that softens the ambient noise of the neighborhood, the street, the wind. It introduces light play that shifts throughout the day as the sun angle changes. And it introduces a focal point that draws the eye and holds it in a way that static elements, no matter how well designed, cannot replicate.