The Water Garden Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

Philip Swindells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

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

(200308)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Combining comprehensive text and superb photographs, Swindells's (Natural Water Gardens) newest offers a host of ideas for creating and maintaining many types of water gardens, from small containers with fountains to re-creations of natural landscape settings. The most ambitious projects will be beyond the amateur gardener, but the design ideas and the photographs of actual gardens that illustrate these ideas are so enticing that even novices may be tempted to try. The simpler projects-pools with miniature plants in pots, fountains in large ornamental jars, troughs with pygmy water lilies and dwarf rushes-are well within the reach of beginners. More ambitious gardeners may be inspired to create ponds, waterfalls, wildlife pools, water meadows, bogs, brooks, streams, even lakes. Instructions for making each type of garden are given through a combination of text and photographs that clearly illustrate each step in the process, from choosing and marking out the site to finishing the project with suitable aquatic plants. Accompanying each design idea are lists of water-loving plants suitable for that type of garden-including water lilies, reeds and rushes, bog plants, and floating and submerged aquatics-and there are chapters on how to buy, plant, fertilize, divide, propagate and care for these plants. This beautifully illustrated volume may feel more like a coffee-table book than an encyclopedia, but it covers its subject in depth.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Swindells has long been engaged in the many facets of water gardening and aquatic plants, and imparts his considerable expertise in a comprehensive and alluring manual containing plenty of practical information to meet the needs of individuals with a do-it-yourself attitude. The broad range of large-scale water features shown in lavish, colorful photographs might also spur on those who can see their way to hiring a designer or landscape contractor to assist with more ambitious projects. Illustrations provide basic, step-by-step approaches to creating ponds and fountains, a host of container possibilities for decks and patios, and far grander waterfalls and reflecting pools appropriate for expansive yards or country properties. Swindells' source book is highly instructive, with how-to advice aimed at clarifying the important aspects to be considered when designing and constructing a remarkable array of water elements for gardens. Planting suggestions round out the material. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552977153
• ISBN-13: 978-1552977156
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 10.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,864,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not an encyclopedia, November 28, 2003

By 

Valerie Adolph "Coast Journal" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Water Garden Encyclopedia (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not an encyclopedia, November 28, 2003

By 

Valerie Adolph "Coast Journal" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Water Garden Encyclopedia (Paperback)

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.