Landscaping Earth Ponds: The Complete Guide - Softcover

This is Tim Matson's fourth book on ponds and perhaps the most beautiful yet. Showcasing a range of natural features that might enhance the aesthetic of a country pond, he nonetheless manages to include a lot of useful information for pond builders. Handsome color photos throughout illustrate stone embankments, edge vegetation, specimen trees, benches, and mountain backdrops, while including a few buildings, docks, and other bits of built infrastructure. A handful of nicely executed line drawings show design features, plans, bridge variations, underground connections, and other elements not easily photographed.The style is understated but very informative. The author has made so many ponds he knows the full range of vagaries, opportunities, and problems you may encounter in the process, and shares much of that insight. He explains excavated versus embankment ponds, and how to site the pond. There is a review of pond structure so that the reader understands safe and functional construction, plus discussion of water quality and sources.As his earlier books dealt at greater length with the basic elements of pond construction, this one emphasizes the planting, though this section of the book also addresses environmental conditions, water flows, etc. An extensive list of suppliers, and a catalog of potential pond plants illustrated with color photos rounds out the offering.One caveat - the ponds shown are all from New England, and while the information is broadly applicable, special conditions not discussed may apply in other areas. As the title implies, only earth-sealed, not lined ponds are covered.An optional DVD is available with the book, and I found it to be an unexpected gem. Visual quality was only so-so, but Matson narrates an excellent script and he does it well. The editing is crisp and the film shows great attention to detail. Pond building can be a messy business, but we get to see the machines and the builders at work unadorned. Pond building may be one of

The guru of earth ponds explains how to site, design, shape, and plant these beloved fixtures of rural landscapesoand make them fit your property and your life. In the decades since he wrote his acclaimed Earth Ponds, Tim Matson has designed scores of ponds, each unique to its site and its owners. In Landscaping Earth Ponds, he shares what he has learned to make these captivating ponds fit into their landscapes and into the lives and lifestyles of their owners. Earth ponds are increasingly recognized for the full range of gardening, landscaping, and ecological promise they hold. As pond-building methods have been perfected, more homeowners are restoring existing ponds or digging new ones. With dozens of colour photographs, Matson shows you how to site a pond in right relation to your house, offering surprisingly simple ways to visually link the two. His proven methods and designs reflect the many moods water evokes. Screen your pond for privacy, create a sandy beach and natural diving platform, encourage wetland gardens, line the shores with moisture-loving perennials, or design your gardens and paths to create a sense of mystery and adventure.