Freestanding monolith fountain with two water threads over pebble

A complete piece of vertical slab and lower basin, with the pump housed inside and a closed circuit. When buying, check the weight and how it arrives: cast stone versions exceed two hundred kilos and come on a pallet, so sort out access to the final position first. And make sure the basin is integrated rather than just the slab, because a basin bought separately almost never matches in width.

A fluted cylindrical pot mounted on a three- or four-legged stand. The legs solve permanent contact with damp gravel and let you sweep underneath, but they raise the centre of gravity considerably: before planting, put four fingers of gravel in the bottom as ballast. And check the stand comes apart, because a tall filled piece can't be shifted in one go.

A rough-finish render, the kind applied with a float and worked with a roller or sponge to leave relief. The relief is what justifies the ground uplights here: over a smooth render, grazing light has nothing to reveal and the wall reads flat. Do a half-metre sample and look at it at night with a torch held flat against the wall before doing the whole face.

A low grass clump, the kind planted loose between slabs to break the geometry. They do well in gravel because they tolerate fast drainage and the heat the stone gives back, and they're cut to the ground once a year and regrow. Plant them into a soil pocket beneath the gravel rather than straight into the pebble, and scatter individual clumps instead of a continuous line.

A path light fifteen to twenty-five centimetres tall with a cap that hides the bulb and throws light down. The height is what separates it from a normal bollard: at this scale it lights the route without appearing in front of whatever you're meant to look at, so it's the one to use ahead of a feature. Choose a spiked model with burial-rated cable rather than a bolt-down base, because in gravel they need repositioning each season.