Earth Ponds A To Z

Defines more than two hundred terms associated with the building and maintenance of earth ponds, including structural elements, water treatments, environmental issues, and landscaping.

The guru of earth ponds explains how to site, design, shape, and plant these beloved fixtures of rural landscapes--and 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 truly fit into their landscapes and into the lives and lifestyles of their owners. Ponds have long been valued for their charm and utility: how else can you simultaneously enliven your landscape, create recreational opportunities, help the environment, and increase your property value? 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 color 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.

The bible of pond-making in a fully redesigned 30th-anniversary edition. There is nothing like a pond. What else can simultaneously increase your aesthetic pleasure, offer recreational opportunities, help the environment, and increase the value of your property? Earth Ponds is the standard resource for building and maintaining these important and lovely landscape features. For thirty years now Earth Ponds, with some 100,000 copies in print, has guided an entire generation of pond makers on everything from site planning to soil sampling to drainage and wildlife management. It’s a complete overview of the country pond. Illustrations guide the pond builder through every step of the process; chapters carefully describe the issues and decisions in a wonderfully personal way. It’s the condensed wisdom of a man who has spent a lifetime building, restoring, and maintaining ponds.

From acclaimed Earth Ponds expert Tim Matson comes The Earth Ponds Sourcebook: The Pond Owner's Manual and Resource Guide. Matson covers all aspects of pond-building and maintenance, with an updated resource guide to help pond owners keep up on the latest in pond technology and techniques.

Tim Matson surveys an often overlooked aspect of independent living—firelight. In this completely revised and updated classic, Matson describes in lively detail all the elements of firelight—beginning with an explanation of the lighting system he developed from his Vermont home. • The romantic history and modern molding of candlepower • Traditional kerosene lamps • The versatile Aladdin • Liquid propane (LP) gas lights • Kerosene and gas pressure lanterns (the Coleman) • Incandescent mantle safety • The "Return of Firelight" from glass-fronted hearths and stoves In addition, Matson shows how to select, assemble, install, and safely maintain these non-electric sources of light. This guide will be indispensable for vacation homes, camps, boats, RVs, independent homesteads—and anywhere in a blackout.

A fixture of beautiful, ecologically-minded landscape designs, earth ponds are cherished for their innate aesthetic appeal, economic value, and the unique recreational opportunities they offer. Everyone knows that installing a well-designed pond can dramatically improve the value of a piece land, but detailed instructions for how to do so--and do so well--are frustratingly hard to find. Finally, here is a book with answers to all your earth pond questions and more. Tim Matson has spent decades designing earth ponds and the landscapes that surround them. He has a remarkable eye for suiting these charming natural bodies of water to your property and lifestyle. With over 25 years' experience as an aquaculture consultant and landscape architect, he can teach you everything you need to know about designing and building an earth pond of your very own. In clear, step-by-step directions, Landscaping Earth Ponds explains... How to create a strong aesthetic link between your house and pond How to encourage plant life and establish lush aquatic gardens How to accent your pond with winding paths and blooming hedges How to screen your pond for privacy How to build natural diving platforms How to select the best materials for fill, embankments, and sandy beaches Richly illustrated with photos and diagrams, and jam-packed with inspirational ideas, designs, and examples, Landscaping Earth Ponds is the number one resource for sustainable and tasteful pond design. Tim Matson, a prize-winning writer and aquaculture consultant, has been advising people on how to build and maintain ponds and wetlands for more than 25 years through Earth Ponds, his pond design and restoration consulting firm. He has written numerous articles on ponds and aquaculture for Yankee, Harrowsmith Country Life, Country Journal, Vermont Life, Audubon, and other periodicals. He is the author of the Earth Ponds, Earth Ponds Sourcebook, and Earth Ponds A to Z. He also produced the Earth Ponds Video. Matson has presented his ideas at seminars and conferences around the U.S. He lives in Vermont.

“This permaculture primer is fresh and vibrant. Bring it on!” —Permaculture Magazine Permaculture is more popular than ever, but it can still be a daunting concept. If you are new to permaculture and interested in learning more, Practical Permaculture offers authoritative, in-depth, and hands-on advice for a more holistic approach to sustainable living. Jessi Bloom and Dave Boehnlein, two dynamic leaders in the permaculture community, explain the basics of permaculture, share their design process, and explore various permaculture systems including soil, water, waste, energy, shelter, food and plants, and animals and wildlife. They also profile the fifty most useful plants for permaculture landscapes.