5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for pond owners, September 16, 2008
This review is from: The Pond Owner's Problem Solver (Hardcover)
Published first in 1998 in England and reprinted and published by Tetra Press in 2002, Dawes talks about all the newest pond gadgets except the new bead filtration. Bead filters are so new and so very expensive that normally the backyard pond owner need not be concerned with them unless the pond is a koi pond used for raising show quality koi. Dawes offers up good pond set up ideas, different styles of ponds, where to site a pond and how to design one. He talks about the pros and cons of lined ponds, concrete and performed ponds.
Fish and feeding
Fish, from food and feeding to breeding and health management are discussed along with the differences between Koi and goldfish. He advocates fish feeding, but cautiously. I have some problems with goldfish feeding, so do not agree with the book when it comes to fish feeding. Other fish, temperate, cold water and tropical are looked at by Dawes. . He shows pictures of sick fish and even microscopic photos of parasites. He gives the fish owner a great way to diagnose sick fish.
Pond plants
Pond plants are discussed at length, from the importance of them to how they reproduce and how to propagate them. He talks about planting your pond, how to keep your plants healthy. Shallow water marginals are differentiated from deep water marginals, surface plants from floating plants from submerged plants or oxygenators.
Water quality and pond maintenance
In his final chapters he discusses water quality and how to manage it. He also talks about winter, spring, summer and fall maintenance.
Questions/answers and sidebars
During each chapter, he answers specific questions about the subject covered in that chapter. He also has sidebars throughout the chapters covering advantages and disadvantages of his ideas. These sidebars alone are worth the cost of the book.
I do disagree with Dawes on his building instructions. I have always suggested and built all ponds at least 4" above the surrounding grade so run off from roofs, roads and nearby lawns could not get in the pond water. His directions from the performed pond to the liner pond involve making sure the ground is level all round before installing rocks. This makes the pond entirely too difficult to build and takes much too long. If the pond is built up, the liner is folded over the first course of rocks and a second course is placed on top, no leveling is necessary and no run off can happen.
I really like his ideas about using a bog garden as a filter, but do not like the idea of making shelves in the pond. If shelves are built, more surface is exposed to the sun and algae are more likely to grow.
Dawe's book has pictures of ponds that will make you want one by next week. His photos will give you great ideas about your own pond design.
It is obviously a book written by someone who has extensive knowledge of ponds, fish, aquatic plants and pond mananagement.
With all Dawes' pictures, illustrations, specific advantages/disadvantages of each method, his book certainly is worthy of being in every pond owner's library.
I give it four fish
out of a possible five, only because I disagree with his building methods. You may prefer building this way.
This would make a great gift for the pond owner in your life.
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