Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)

Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)
Average customer rating:

Perfect book

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK

Beautiful photos; strange text

Very complete book

Surprisingly COMPREHENSIVE!

Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)
Michael Littlewood
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Building Types & Styles | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Outdoor & Recreational Areas | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Swimming Pools | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Earth Ponds Sourcebook: The Pond Owner's Manual and Resource Guide, Second Edition

Landscaping Earth Ponds: The Complete Guide

The Ponder's Bible

Earth Ponds: The Country Pond Maker's Guide to Building, Maintenance and Restoration

Poolscaping: Gardening and Landscaping Around Your Swimming Pool and Spa

ASIN: 0764321838

Book Description

Natural swimming pools rely on the correct balance of plants and microorganisms to clean and purify the water. They are a safe place for children to play and birds to drink, and are a dramatic example of ecological design, combining the natural and man-made worlds while creating beauty. These pools offer enjoyment not only in the warm months, but during winter, too, when they can be used for ice skating and other activities. Often the focal point of a garden, natural swimming pools blend into their environments, flowing into the surroundings with plants and rocks.They reflect the changing seasons and they enhance the environment naturally. They are easy and less costly to maintain than chemical pools, providing significant savings in water. Chlorine and other common pool chemicals are hazardous to human health and are not used. This book is a necessary resource for anyone interested in having a natural swimming pool and shows how a natural swimming pool system works, as well as the environmental, health, and safety benefits it offers. Drawings, diagrams, and charts cover planning, design, biology, materials, construction, planting, and maintenance. Over 300 beautiful color pictures feature projects that will inspire you to have your own natural water garden where you can swim in harmony with nature at any time.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect book.......2007-09-04

Great book for all aspects of creating a variety of green/natural pools. Beautiful pictures and good illustrations and copy to help in decision making.

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK .......2007-08-22

Simply put this book is a MUST READ for anyone intersted in any aspect of Sustainable and Ecological Design. It should be read right along with Permaculture by Mollison, the Passive Solar Handbook by Mazria, Rainwater Harvesting by Lancaster, and ecocities to Living Machines by Todd. Even if you aren't specifically interested in making a swimming pool (which you will be after reading it) the insights into the workings of hydro-ecologies and how to design natural systems are invaluable!

If you aren't interested in the whole range of sustainability but just this particular topic of pool design then this book is STILL A MUST READ. If you're an ecologist who wants to make a pool, or a pool designer who wants to do something ecological this book provides an excellent layman's understanding of ecological design, with good technical and artistic advice for how to do it, and good technical and artistic advice for swimming pool construction.

I would still advise you to also purchase the book Poolscaping as a companion to this one.

This is an all around excellent book buy it now.

Beautiful photos; strange text.......2007-08-01

Thumbing through the book will make you want to move to Austria or Germany where beautiful "natural" pools are somehat established. Why is the U. S. so environmentally backward? Unfortunately, the text is awkwardly translated at times such that one has to struggle to figure out what is meant with limited success.The assumption is that one is swimming only in the summer, but in California we may want to swim year round. Useful especially since so little information is available. Can't understand why the publisher didn't insist on professional proofreading.Buy it for inspiration, or wait for the next edition, or wait for one more applicable to your area. It does provide info in the back about two U.S resources, one in CA.

Very complete book .......2007-02-24

Is the book i need for learning on natural swimming pool. Now i can make my own pool

Surprisingly COMPREHENSIVE!.......2007-02-09

This large sized book covered the subject exceedingly well in lots of color photos with explanations and, more importantly, in lots of diagrams and nuts and bolts descriptions. I only read sections here and there but what I did read clearly indicated to me that you could actually use this book to build a natural swimming pool. At the least, you could definitely make a solid decision whether or not you could build or would want to build such a pool on your property. These pools are basically like salt water aquariums in that you have to make a biosphere and monitor it. In some ways it's not as easy as it sounds but also not as hard as it sounds. However, start up takes time and it can be tricky to finally reach environmental stabilization. I am not going to build a natural pool but I still found this book very useful. At the end this book are MANY pages of water plants and trees recommended for certain types of water areas. There are zone maps of the US included for reference. So even if you just want to make a little ornamental fountain in a big pot on the patio deck or a pond or a bog out back, this book has a VERY comprehensive set of plant lists you will find exceedingly useful. 18 pages of them. Categories include Submerged Plants, Floating Plants, Floating Leaved Plants, Shallow Marginal Plants, Deep Marginal Plants, Moisture-loving Plants, Bog/Marsh Plants, Waterside Plats-Trees & Shrubs, Ferns, Grasses Sedges Reeds and Rushes. Botanical and Common Names are listed along with height, spread, water depth, flower color, flower period, foliage, position, comments and plant zone. It's the best I've seen in any book so far.

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet

Average customer rating:

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet
Norma Lehmeier-Hartie
Manufacturer: Lingham Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Herbal Remedies | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Healthy Living | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Decorating | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

The Healthy Living Space: 70 Practical Ways to Detoxify the Body and Home
How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office
Home Enlightenment: Practical, Earth-Friendly Advice for Creating a Nurturing, Healthy, and Toxin-Free Home and Lifestyle
Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living
The Healthy Home Workbook: Easy Steps for Eco-Friendly Living

ASIN: 0977963306
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Product Description

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, by Norma Lehmeier Hartie, is an indispensable reference book for anyone who cares about their health and well being and for the future of the planet. Hartie concisely covers a wide range of subjects and includes a comprehensive listing of advisory organizations, product and service resources. Part I of the book, Banish the Ugly from Your Life, is a blueprint for green, sustainable living. Discover how to replace toxic and unsustainable products from household cleaners to food (including recipes) to furniture to personal care products with safe, eco-friendly ones. Hartie is the tough but motivational Life Coach in her approach to cleaning, removing clutter and on organizing the home or office. Part II, Bring in the Beautiful to Create a Harmonious Environment and Self, includes a chapter on Earth-based spirituality and a fascinating look at the Four Elements (Earth, Fire, Air and Water) and the Medicine Wheel. The core of Hartie s philosophy blossoms in Chapter Seven, Applying Harmonious AdjustmentsTM: Using Feng Shui and Other Techniques for Powerful Results. Unlike other Feng Shui authors, Hartie has experience as a designer and her skills are apparent in this chapter and the following two. She has combined principles of Feng Shui, the Four Elements, color, energy, Vastu, and good design principles that create a unique and eclectic approach to home decorating. Finally, Hartie provides guidance on how to manifest personal or professional desires. In Part III, Putting the Pieces Together, Hartie skillfully integrates the many subjects of the book into a unified and cohesive whole. At its cover price of $19.95, Harmonious Environment is a value alone for the comprehensive green living product suppliers in the Resources section. What makes this book so truly ambitious, however, is what lies beneath the surface. In a sense, this book is only marginal

Earth Ponds A to Z: An Illustrated Encyclopedia

Average customer rating:

Building a Pond

Earth Ponds A to Z: An Illustrated Encyclopedia
Tim Matson
Manufacturer: Countryman Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Reference | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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Earth Ponds: The Country Pond Maker's Guide to Building, Maintenance and Restoration
Earth Ponds Sourcebook: The Pond Owner's Manual and Resource Guide, Second Edition
Landscaping Earth Ponds: The Complete Guide
The Ponder's Bible
Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)

ASIN: 0881504947

Book Description

From the author of Earth Ponds, the definitive reference guide to constructed earth ponds.

This A-Z guide provides pond owners and builders with an at-a-glance reference to answer any question. From Acid Rain to Zooplankton, pond guru Tim Matson defines and explains more than two hundred terms associated with pond building and maintenance, both familiar and obscure. Here the reader will find descriptions and definitions of all significant pond elements, including:
• structural features
• construction materials
• water conditions and treatments
• aquacultural topics and crops
• environmental concerns
• government support and regulatory agencies
• landscaping
More than two hundred illustrated entries distill the latest information on ponds into a unique and definitive companion for pond owners and builders.

Customer Reviews:

Building a Pond.......2006-11-12

I recently bought 11 acres in East Texas and this book is very instermental in knowing where to build my pond on it. I own several books
on the subject and this is one of the best.

A Practical Guide to Building And Maintaining a Koi Pond: An Essential Guide to Building And Maintaining (Pondmaster S.)

Average customer rating:

A Practical Guide to Building And Maintaining a Koi Pond: An Essential Guide to Building And Maintaining (Pondmaster S.)
Keith Holmes , and Tony Pitham
Manufacturer: Interpet Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Fish & Aquariums | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1842860631

Earth Ponds Sourcebook: The Pond Owner's Manual and Resource Guide

Average customer rating:

Earth Ponds

Earth Ponds Sourcebook: The Pond Owner's Manual and Resource Guide
Tim Matson
Manufacturer: Countryman Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Earth Ponds: The Country Pond Maker's Guide to Building, Maintenance and Restoration
Landscaping Earth Ponds: The Complete Guide
Earth Ponds A to Z: An Illustrated Encyclopedia
Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)
The Ponder's Bible

ASIN: 0881503584

Book Description

In the sequel to his bestselling Earth Ponds, Tim Matson offers new ideas, advice, a wealth of resources, and his trademark wit in this sourcebook full of practical information for pond owners. Those who want to build a new pond today are likely to face tighter regulations on wetlands and complicated questions about building methods; those who already own ponds may wonder how to stock it with fish, how to cure an alga or weed problem, or how to cope with beavers. This book addresses all of these issues, and more.

Topics covered include:

* Pond Building: a concise guide, A to Z
* Maintenance: symptoms of a dying pond and some basic and off-the-wall ideas about how to prevent, or reverse, this aging process
* Wildlife: how to attract those you want; how to repel those you don't.
* Activities and Use: skating, raising fish, saunas and hot tubs, kits for building rafts, docks, and gazebos, pumps for irrigation and pond protection,
* Garden ponds: goldfish, ornamental plants
* Details about the products on the market, where to buy supplies, and how to get the best for your buck.

Customer Reviews:

Earth Ponds.......2000-06-24

This is meant as a companion for his other book on ponds but does a very nice job by itself.

Average customer rating:

A great guide for anyone wanting to do more
A nice place to start
Great overall book
Printed in China
A good intro to organic living, but not a comprehensive guide

Slice of Organic Life

Manufacturer: DK Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Healthy | Special Diet | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Organic Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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Cleaning, Caretaking & Relocating | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Green Housecleaning | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Planning | Weddings | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution
Chez Panisse Café Cookbook
Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets
Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

ASIN: 0756628733

Book Description

Featuring over 90 self-contained projects, from growing your own food organically, cooking home-grown produce, keeping selected livestock, and leading a more sustainable lifestyle, this down-to-earth, yet practical guide is the perfect start for someone looking to go "green." The team of experts offer options for city dwellers with little space, for those living in the suburbs with a bit of land, and for those who have acres of land and no ideas on how to use them. The book includes a foreword by alice Waters. AUTHOR BIO: Concerned by the poor quality of food on offer, Sheherazade Goldsmith started up an organic delicatessen that soon began to specialize in home-cooked food for babies and young children.

Customer Reviews:

A great guide for anyone wanting to do more.......2007-09-12

First, if you're looking for a comprehensive guide to green living, skip this one. It isn't a comprehensive guide, and it doesn't bill itself as such. It does what it claims to do -- gives you "slices" of organic life. It's great for families like mine who can't do everything but want to do SOMETHING. I think that it is very well-organized for it's mission -- to give people ways to incorporate organic and sustainable living into their daily lives. It is organized by lifestyle -- for those with apartments, small yards, or lots of open space. The ideas range from truly simple solutions (baking your own bread, choosing earth-friendly cleaning products) to the more adventurous (keeping honeybees and chickens). I really love this book. It's an attractively put together and well-organized learning experience.

A nice place to start.......2007-09-09

This book does exactly what it sets out to do, bring the reader a slice of organic life. While I did wish that some of the sections had been a bit more detailed, the point of the book isn't to provide an exhaustive thoroughly-detailed resource on all facets of an organic natural green lifestyle. And there's a nice appendix in the back providing websites, phone numbers, and addresses of businesses and organisations that can give the reader more information on the areas s/he's most interested in, such as growing herbs, raising livestock, or starting a hobby farm. Divided into the sections "No Need for a Yard," "Roof Terrace, Patio, or Tiny Yard," and "Yard, Community Garden, or Field," it presents numerous projects and lifestyle changes the reader can implement based on the amount of personal space s/he's got. For example, someone with only an apartment can be more selective about one's food products, make fruit cordials, and grow salad leaves, someone with a small yard can make compost, grow tomatoes in a pot, or make one's own barbeque, and someone with a large yard or field can become a beekeeper, keep geese, or plant a vine. There's also a bit of overlap with some of the suggestions; for example, anyone can use cloth diapers, buy natural bath products, use reclaimed furniture, make jam, or make berry popsicles. It gives the reader a lot of ideas, some of them things which most people are already aware of, such as raising a garden, and some which one might not have known about before, such as having a truly green Xmas tree. It also doesn't really preach to the reader and tell him or her to do all of these things; besides the fact that everyone should transition to a greener lifestyle at one's own pace instead of jumping in whole hog all at once, some of them won't be practicable for everyone, for whatever reasons. For example, some of these things seem really hard-core or evenly potentially dangerous for a beginner, like making one's own paint, foraging for mushrooms, and creating one's own cleaning and bath products. The sections on raising animals for meat and other byproducts also rather surprised me; it seems as though most people into a natural organic lifestyle would be promoting getting food from the resources we already have instead of using up even more resources to raise farm animals and contributing to an animal overpopulation problem just to get a regular supply of pork or so that a cow or goat can have a continual supply of milk (dairy animals need to be pretty much pregnant every year in order to keep producing milk). Overall, though, there are a lot of good interesting suggestions on how to make a greener lifestyle a reality instead of just a dream.

Great overall book.......2007-08-30

This book was an easy read which covered lightly on each section of organic living. Unlike most people I was only trying to find an easy to read organic book. I liked the book because unlike most books it covered a large area of organic living. I found that this book is great for an intro to organic living where you could follow this book up with others specifically pertaining to your areas of intrest. This book gave me a quick intro into farm living and what it takes to live an organic life. This book by no means answered all of my questions it only helped me narrow down my specific intrests, giving me general information on organics and what it takes to do them, allowing me to find other specific books pertaining to my new intrests. Another plus to this 337 page book was that each page had a picture describing what specifically the author was talking about. Overall good book!

Printed in China.......2007-08-06

I admit, I have not bought or read this book. However, I was tempted until I flipped to the back cover and read, "Printed in China." How counterintuitive to buy a book that urges the reader to purchase local goods yet the book itself is printed abroad. And probably not even printed on recycled paper. It shows that some who promote "green" and "organic" really only care about the green in their pockets.

A good intro to organic living, but not a comprehensive guide.......2007-08-06

"A Slice of Organic Life" introduces readers to the various ways they can incorporate organic living into their routines, regardless of where they live or how much time they have on their hands. Chapter one, titled "No Need for a Yard," has a variety of easy tips that can be adopted by someone living in a small apartment, from shopping ethically and growing strawberries in a hanging basket, to growing herbs indoors and then drying those herbs for storage. Each topic is 2 to 4 pages long and gives the reader a brief, yet helpful, introduction to the subject. Recipes are included where appropriate, for instance, in the section about how to make & freeze baby foods, where the authors share recipes for baby meals like herb mash, carrot soup, and fruit smoothies. The second chapter of this book is meant, as the title indicates, for people who live in an apartment or house with a "Roof terrace, Patio, or Tiny Yard." Here how-to topics include growing an apple tree in a pot, gardening without pesticides and collecting rainwater to water your plants. The third chapter, titled "Yard, Community Garden, or Field," takes organic living to its utmost manifestation and includes sections such as how to preserve fruit, create a wildlife pond, make apple juice, milk a cow and make freshly churned butter. Every page includes eye-catching color photographs and much food for thought. Indeed, if I had a large yard the section on keeping chickens would have left me seriously considering building a coop.

In general the chapters in this book are well-conceived and enjoyable, but on a couple occasions the authors took their enthusiasm for organic living a bit too far. For instance, on page 102 they counsel readers to forage for mushrooms in the wild, which is dangerous advice if only because several lethal mushrooms resemble their edible cousins. Though the authors share photos of four poisonous mushrooms and tell newbie foragers to tag along with experienced foragers in the beginning, only an expert should attempt to gather mushrooms for consumption. Every year approximately 9,000 people in the US accidentally poison themselves with mushrooms, and though one could easily talk around this point by noting how a majority of the people poisoned are curious children with an appetite for fungi, in my book it counts for something that even food expert Alton Brown has said he wouldn't presume to pick mushrooms in the wild. Nevertheless, on the whole, this book is an excellent introduction to organic living, giving readers the opportunity to thumb through a user-friendly manual on how to make their lives more environmentally friendly without abandoning metropolitan life or giving up creature comforts. "A Slice of Organic Life" will make you rethink how you approach even the most mundane aspects of your life.

Average customer rating:

Nice blend of information and storytelling.
A Love Affair with Small Waters

The Pond Lovers
Gene Logsdon
Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Nature Writing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Earth Ponds Sourcebook: The Pond Owner's Manual and Resource Guide, Second Edition

ASIN: 0820324698

Book Description

To his legions of readers, Gene Logsdon is best known as the Contrary Farmer. His writings, which blend commonsense advice, curmudgeonly wit, and respect for the earth, are manna to anyone who wants to live, as Logsdon puts it, "at nature's pace."

The Pond Lovers is Logsdon's ode to the watery microcosms all around us, from the half-acre farm pond to the suburban garden pool. Readers looking for hands-on experience will find plenty of pond-keeping dos and don'ts. Logsdon's higher purpose, however, is to proclaim the natural, spiritual, and recreational benefits of ponds. Fed by spring or filled by rainfall, the ponds closest to Logsdon's heart need minimal human interference in the way of machinery or chemicals. Those we read about in The Pond Lovers mostly belong to Logsdon's friends and neighbors, an extraordinarily resourceful group of people. For them, a pond is many things--from a place to fish, swim, or skate to an oasis for local plants, insects, and animals. Each purpose, Logsdon shows us, has its place in a thoughtful, self-sufficient life. Throughout, Logsdon also reminds us of the intense personal connections to ponds of such creative giants as Claude Monet, Andrew Wyeth, and Henry David Thoreau.

Drawn from many and varied lifetimes spent around ponds, The Pond Lovers brims with lessons and opportunities for good work and good play--for backyard naturalists, do-it-yourselfers, and armchair gardeners.

Customer Reviews:

Nice blend of information and storytelling........2005-07-29

I thought this presentation was a nice balance between providing information regarding the creation and upkeep of a country pond and the value of ponds in the lives of real people. I took a few notes as I read to guide me through the process of adding a pond to our land in the Midwest. I also enjoyed the vision the author shared of the contribution a pond can make to the physical and emotional well-being of those who live nearby.

A Love Affair with Small Waters.......2004-05-12

Those who love Gene Logsdon's work will definitely want to add this book to their library. Along with his usual contrary take on proper pond building methods, he conveys the beauty, diversity, and endless joy generated by a small pond of water. If you've not read Mr. Logsdon, then this is a wonderful introduction to his work. Anyone who has enjoyed dangling their toes off a dock, frog hunting in the cattails, or fishing on a sunny spring day will appreciate this book.

Average customer rating:

Round the Garden
This book is pleasing - aesthetically and intellectually!

Round the Garden
Omri Glasir
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Baby-3 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0810941376

Amazon.com

In an unusual mix of fiction and science--no, it's not science fiction--8-year-old author Omri Glaser traces the hydrologic cycle that starts with a tear. The falling tear helps form a puddle, which evaporates to become a cloud, which makes the rain fall, which helps the garden grow, which produces an onion, which causes more tears! Color-soaked pages hold simple, sparse text in easy-to-read bold print; the story should be lingered over and used as a starting point for discussions about earth science, nature, and life cycles. The illustrations, created by the artist team of Byron Glaser and Sandra Higashi, are digitally produced: two-page spreads of solid color and minimal artwork alternate with more elaborate spreads depicting broad stretches of sky, ponds, and gardens. Clouds are labeled with their correct categorizations (cumulus, nimbostratus, cirrus, etc.), and a very loose diagram of photosynthesis, again with proper terminology (carbon dioxide, soil, oxygen, sunshine) is a good introduction to this phenomenon, without bogging down in age-inappropriate specifics. The youthful age of the author can serve as an inspiration to would-be writers and illustrators. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

Children will delight in this charming tale of a tear that helps form a puddle that creates a cloud that makes the rain fall that waters the garden that causes the vegetables to grow that makes the gardeners cry (from peeling onions) . . .

This easy-to-read, imaginative tale, written by eight-year-old Omri Glaser, is inspired by the cyclic movement of water through the earth and atmosphere. It will have children looking at rain and dripping faucets in a whole new way! Digitally created, bold, vibrant illustrations make this picture book ideal for young children.

OMRI GLASER has had an avid interest in the earth sciences and the environment his whole life. He is eight years old. BYRON GLASER AND SANDRA HIGASHI are the designers and illustrators of creativity-inspiring products, including the award-winning toys ZoloTM and BonzTM. They have been designing together since 1974 and formed Higashi Glaser Design in 1986. They work in a variety of media, including painting, collage, sculpture, and digital art. Round the Garden was created digitally. 34 pages of illustrations in full color, 9 x 9"

Customer Reviews:

Round the Garden.......2000-08-01

This book is a delight for readers of all ages. It's hard to believe that a 9-year-old can have such insight into the way the world works. Omri is a literary genius and I hope to read more from him in the near future. The illustrations are great, too!

This book is pleasing - aesthetically and intellectually!.......2000-06-25

I feel this book is fabulous in the way it traces the journey of a water drop throughout its cyclical life. Being a Naturalist whose task it is to educate young people about the water cycle, this book takes such a complex thing and makes it seem simple - which it is! How wonderful it is to say (and see) this book was written by a child for other children.

The Natural Water Garden (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)

Average customer rating:

What you need to consider before you begin....
great book
Great, Straight-Forward Pond Keeping Advice
Realistic water gardening

The Natural Water Garden (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Manufacturer: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1889538019

Country Living Gardener

Chapters (each written by a different professional horticulturist) cover constructing a wetland garden, planting and maintaining backyard wetlands, and various forms of water gardens....

Customer Reviews:

What you need to consider before you begin...........2005-04-25

If you buy nothing else for your gardening home library, buy monographs from a responsible organization such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. THE NATURAL WATER GARDEN, published in 1997 and again in 2000, is an excellent example of the quality of material you can expect from this fine source.

Now you may think you don't need a book like this because you live in the city or suburbs and have no nearby pond or stream you could dam up to make a pond. You would be wrong with that assumption. I live on a small urban plot and have managed to have a water garden and if I can do it you can too.

Those of us who subscribe to the BBC TV network remember a fine (apparently no longer extant) series called `Ground Force'. Every week this team would overhaul someone's garden and without fail, they would find a way to install a `water feature'. Usually these projects were relatively simple because most of the gardens the team revamped were small urban entities. Once in a while the team would take on a larger project (they once overhauled Nelson Mandela's patch in South Africa, which is how I discovered the Nile Lily). Usually, they dug a hole, lined it with a water-proof liner, trimmed it with stones, and then filled it with various water plants. Once in a while they did something different such as make a water garden in a pot.

The BG guide shows you how to create larger and smaller water features, be they bog gardens, soil erosion projects, or marshes, or pools, or ponds. My favorite chapter is the `storm water marsh, because I have yet to live anywhere in the South where water does not come down in torrents and cascade from the roof in a `downpour'. Our current house was no exception. I say "was" because we used a number of ideas found in this little monograph to convert the runoff for good purposes. Where water once washed off the house and under it, it now moves out to the yard and under the patio, and collects in the far corner of the back yard, where Viburnum, Aronia, Holly, Hibiscus, Japanese Anemone, Iris, Hosta, Ajuga and Hyacinth congregate and thrive.

The Guide mentions Prince Georges County in Maryland as an example of a jurisdiction that promotes building a storm water marsh to reduce the effect of sudden surges in the flow of water which cause flooding in lowlands and damage the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Although I live across the river in Arlington on higher ground, my county is very Green and promotes similar eco-friendly behavior. The upshot is that you may find buying this little book and using it as a guide may be an act of responsible citizenship.

great book.......2002-08-11

We just started planning our water garden and wanted it to be as natural as possible. This book has good pictures and lots of info to help you make the right decisions in planning and then creating your water garden.

Great, Straight-Forward Pond Keeping Advice.......2002-05-28

This is one of the most practical and useful ponding books I have, and I have plenty. One of the best things about it is that it covers topics not mentioned in other ponding books. Most ponding books say the same things. This gives a little extra. It is helpful for the person who wants to keep a pond as naturally as possibly, especially for those with large earthen ponds, but also those of us with modest sized linered ponds.

Realistic water gardening.......2000-10-03

With the boom in water garden popularity has come the boom in water gardening books. Most of these books are expensive and disappointing, either being pretty picture books or complicated guides to dream water gardens. As usual, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden 21st Century Gardening Series has delivered the goods for under $10. The subtitle of this book, "Pools, Ponds, Marshes & Bogs for Backyards Everywhere," accurately describes this little jewel. Topics range from stream restoration to landscaping that soggy area in your yard. This tiny book also manages to pack in regional plant recommendations and an excellent resource list along with helpful and inspirational photographs. Buy it!

The Low-Water Flower Gardener (The Natural Garden Series)

Average customer rating:

Awsome: Illustration, description, and quality!
Outstanding pictures and information about low water flowers

The Low-Water Flower Gardener (The Natural Garden Series)
Eric A. Johnson
Manufacturer: Ironwood Press (Tucson, AZ)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0962823619

Customer Reviews:

Awsome: Illustration, description, and quality!.......2006-04-11

This book has given me much needed insight to gardening. From planning to preparation and maintaining in arid enviornments of the Western United States. Very colorful photographs with decriptions which are easy to follow. A good quality book.

Outstanding pictures and information about low water flowers.......1998-08-14

This is the most comprehensive book I've found yet about flower gardening in the desert. Color pictures accompany each entry. Both the botanical and the common names of flowers are listed as well as other pertinent information. I am constantly referring to it. This and Sunset's WESTERN GARDEN BOOK are my bibles for gardening in the desert.

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