The Water Garden Encyclopedia

The Ultimate Guide to Designing, Constructing, Planting and Maintaining Garden Ponds and Water Features

Whether it's a simple pond, an imaginative waterfall, or a lavish fountain, the water garden is fast-becoming one of the most popular and exciting backyard features.

Water weaves an exciting strand into the tapestry of any garden. A calm pool mirrors the sky and surrounding trees. Fountains, streams and waterfalls introduce movement and the relaxing sound of splashing water.

The Water Garden Encyclopedia opens with a section that explains how to get started and covers the basic principles of siting, finding the right equipment, and calculating sizes and capacities. The contents are then divided into six main sections:

• Water gardening in containers
• Formal ponds and water gardens
• Natural water gardens
• Waterfalls and fountains
• Imaginative use of pond features and decorations
• Pond plants and cultivation

Each section includes step-by-step illustrations and design ideas to spark the reader's imagination.

The Water Garden Encyclopedia provides all the expert guidance that's needed -- for beginner and experienced gardener alike.

• Lavishly illustrated and comprehensive
• The ultimate guide to designing, constructing, planting, and maintaining garden pools and water features
• Packed with tips, instructions, and photographs that guide the gardener through each stage

Some of the pond construction details are complex and might make you consider getting expert help. Sound foundations for even the most simple rustic bridge require concrete footings, perhaps with reinforcing rods. The book has much to offer in the area of pond maintenance, and in how to propagate and plant water plants - I loved the idea of planting them in old panty hose, rather than planting baskets or burlap - but I thought the section on fish and pond ecology was weak.

While comprehensive and having plenty of useful ideas and caveats, this is not an encyclopedia. Written by a water garden specialist from Britain, the book will make an interesting and attractive addition to your water garden library. It is useful and well illustrated with step-by-step how-to-do-it photographs, but it is nowhere near being an encyclopedia.


Good, but not an encyclopedia   November 28, 2003
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a book that will guide you in planning, building and maintaining any type of water garden you could imagine. It covers a lot of territory, from container water gardens to formal pools, bog gardens, rills, canals and even dew ponds. It will help you plan lighting, bridges, stepping stones and wet islands. It is especially useful in letting you know what you should be planning ahead for, what aspect you might not have considered that should be factored in. The writer includes a goodly section on plants too, including bog and marginal plants.

Some of the pond construction details are complex and might make you consider getting expert help. Sound foundations for even the most simple rustic bridge require concrete footings, perhaps with reinforcing rods. The book has much to offer in the area of pond maintenance, and in how to propagate and plant water plants - I loved the idea of planting them in old panty hose, rather than planting baskets or burlap - but I thought the section on fish and pond ecology was weak.

While comprehensive and having plenty of useful ideas and caveats, this is not an encyclopedia. Written by a water garden specialist from Britain, the book will make an interesting and attractive addition to your water garden library. It is useful and well illustrated with step-by-step how-to-do-it photographs, but it is nowhere near being an encyclopedia.