Guest Author - Diana Pederson

Keith Davitt. Water Features for Small Gardens. Timber Press. Timber Press. 2003.

Water adds sound and texture to a garden. Unfortunately, most gardeners don’t have room for large ponds or streams. Keith Davitt’s Water Features for Small Gardens will help you overcome the space limitations faced by gardeners today.

The book begins with an introduction to natural pools, informal pools, formal fountains, raised formal fountains, wall fountains, streams, bog gardens, tub gardens and natural waterfalls. It concludes with information on pumps and filtration.

The first nine chapters develops each of the types of water gardens that will fit in a small location. Several projects are given for each type with complete directions for constructing that water feature. My favorite projects are found under “bog gardens”. You’ll no doubt choose another type of garden as your favorite.

Each water garden project is illustrated with full color photographs. The instructions for each project are easy to understand and implement. Black and white illustrations are used to further explain the text when appropriate.

The book’s final chapter describes the many plants suitable for small water gardens. Many of the descriptions were accompanied by photographs.

Recommendation

Water gardens are exciting. Every gardener, regardless of space, should be able to find one or two projects that could be implemented in their garden in this book. You will want to add this book to your own wish list or give it as a holiday gift. It may be purchased online at amazon.com.