Building Natural Ponds: Create a Clean, Algae-free Pond without Pumps, Filters, or Chemicals

by Robert Pavlis

Build a natural pond for wildlife, beauty, and quiet contemplation

Typical backyard ponds are a complicated mess of pipes, pumps, filters, and nasty chemicals designed to adjust pH and keep algae at bay. Hardly the bucolic, natural ecosystem beloved by dragonflies, frogs, and songbirds.

The antidote is a natural pond, free of hassle, cost, and complexity and designed as a fully functional ecosystem, ideal for biodiversity, swimming, irrigation, and quiet contemplation.

Building Natural Ponds is the first step-by-step guide to designing and building natural ponds that use no pumps, filters, chemicals, or electricity and mimic native ponds in both aesthetics and functionality. Highly illustrated with how-to drawings and photographs, coverage

Understanding pond ecosystems and natural algae control Planning, design, siting, and pond aesthetics Step-by-step guidance for construction, plants and fish, and maintenance and trouble shooting Scaling up to large ponds, pools, bogs, and rain gardens. Whether you're a backyard gardener looking to add a small serene natural water feature or a homesteader with visions of a large pond for fish, swimming, and irrigation, Building Natural Ponds is the complete guide to building ponds in tune with nature, where plants, insects, and amphibians thrive in blissful serenity.

Robert Pavlis , a Master Gardener with over 40 years of gardening experience, is owner and developer of Aspen Grove Gardens, a six-acre botanical garden featuring over 2,500 varieties of plants. A well-respected speaker and teacher, Robert has published articles in Mother Earth News , Ontario Gardening magazine, the widely read blog GardenMyths.com, which explodes common gardening myths and gardening information site GardenFundamentals.com.

Genres: Gardening, Nature, Nonfiction, Landscaping, Plants

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 7, 2017

Reviews

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice small-publisher intro to natural ponds. I would have liked more info about clay/soil lined and swimming ponds, but the book was intended as a more general resource. I will definitely be referring back as I build. Helped me figure out my first planning steps for building a swimming pond :) feeling excited!

[cellomerl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always thought that an isolated pond (i.e., one that is not fed by a spring or creek) requires a pump and filter to keep it from going stagnant. But that’s not actually true; the secret seems to be a low fish load and a high plant population. This is a comprehensive for such a short book. Lots of good info on pond plants and structure, with straightforward instructions for subject that you don’t find too often. The diagrams are a bit amateur but they get the point across. More photos would have been nice, especially in colour, as the black and white pix are quite small and don’t do the subject justice.

[Elizabeth Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good overview of natural ponds. This was a new concept to me, a pond without a pump or filtration system, and no need for a big clean out every year. This has made the pond much more affordable and appealing. I was sold on the idea immediately, and just had a small pond installed. It has opened a new world of water plants, and so far drawn in some gorgeous dragonflies. I’m looking forward to adding more plants and goldfish, and hoping to see some frogs and tadpoles.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some dry humour, otherwise quite informative and worthwhile reading.

[Tom Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

In most garden pond books, it doesn't take long before talk of technology, pumps and filters comes into play.
This book, however, is different.
As occurs in the wild to a nature-created pond, there is no filter, no pump and no technology of any kind, and nature does just fine.

This book intends to describe what it takes to recreate what nature does naturally. Quite informative and interesting.

[Scott Lupo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great starting point book to get an idea of how to create a natural pond for uses such as swimming, agriculture, pleasure and aesthetics, fish raising, and other uses. Creating a thriving, balanced ecosystem seems to be the key to keeping algae at bay and eliminating the use of filter, pumps, and chemicals. Very practical knowledge.

[Joe Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative book!

The advice is great and the author is very knowledgeable. I’m not sure I’m ready for a natural pond, however. Maybe a container pond would be a good place for me to start. But when I am ready for a natural pond, I have the book that will help me accomplish it!

[Deni Jegeni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Very detailed, covering everything one needs to know, yet concise and pleasant to read. I appreciated a lot the idea of keeping things natural and letting the pond grow into a sustainable ecosystem. I always believed there is no need to add chemicals to create a pond, and this book is the confirmation I needed. I will put the advice to good use soon.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I already have a large, stocked pond and was looking for landscaping techniques. This book was more geared toward the whole process of creating a new, smaller pond with a lot of rocks. If I was doing that, this would be a good resource but for my use falls short.

[Snakestar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about building and maintaining a natural pond. I don't really like how this author expects that you just want a pond for pleasure when I am reading this for my duck pool. I definitely think that this book will come in handy but I also think I could have gotten a longer list for good duck pond plants and fish online.

[Sam Mielo]

Very quick read. Lots of great info if you are planning to build a pond and how to go about doing so. I enjoyed the sections that provided addition information on types of plants to grow in and near your pond and the section on different fish you could pick for your pond.

[Jean-Sylvain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives good technical advices on how to succeed an implementation of a natural pond or pool. Now, I just need an opportunity to put it into practice !

[Ileana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, concise, critical and practical information about all the parts of building an ecosystem in your yard.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional guide book for a self-sustaining ecosystem in building a pond, rain garden, and bog. Wonderful examples of companion planting and rock and liner choices. Wonderfully done!

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

With Building Natural Ponds, author Pavlis has given us a thorough understanding of everything needed for a natural pond - whether a small front yard decorative feature or a very large swimming hole to grow trout. Unfortunately, there are only a few black and white photographs and some illustrations, so this felt much more tailored to those comfortable with building, especially those with access to power equipment. That said, I did find much in here to help ensure I can maintain a pond, even through Winter, and develop a healthy ecosystem that never needs cleaning or much maintenance.

The topics covered in the book are as follows: Understanding a balanced ecosystem, Environmental benefits, Natural looking designs, Planning and design, Building, Fish, Plants, Maintenance and troubleshooting, Large-scale ponds, Pools, bogs, and rain gardens.

As can be seen, quite a range of topics are covered. The writing is clean, friendly, and easy to follow. The book isn't dense, at 160 or so pages, the topic is covered neatly yet thoroughly to ensure a successful project. One front page includes 3 color photographs of the same pond at a nursery. Everything else is a very infrequent diagram or black and white photo. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.