Building Natural Ponds by Robert Pavlis

I give this book 9 out of 10 acorns.

What a refreshing book to read on creating your own natural pond.  Too many books I've read on building ponds seem to be nothing more than a bloated brochure for a pond chemicals or equipment.  With Building Natural Ponds Robert Pavlis has made the dream of having a low-maintenance pond seem much more attainable.  The book is filled with beautiful examples of functioning natural ponds to inspire and convince you that a chemical-free pond doesn't have to be a sludge filled swamp from a horror movie.  Yes there will be maintenance but by following the guidelines in this book you can reduce the maintenance to an acceptable amount.

Building Natural Ponds begins with an overview of the ecological concepts related to ponds and why a properly built pond is a benefit to the environment around it.  I really like that Mr. Pavlis even gives a nod to permaculture here, which is rare in a lot of books out there.  The book goes from there to a few chapters regarding thing to consider during the design, planning, and building phases.  Here is where you get to dive into the fun part of dreaming of all the features you want or need and (maybe not so fun) the realities involved with making those dreams come to life.  The great thing is that these natural ponds involve a lot less in the name of complicated pumps and filtration systems and a lot more benefits to the environment around them.

The next couple of chapters deal with the specifics of plant and animal choices for a natural pond.  These are the real workhorses of the pond, what take the place of those expensive filtering systems and the expensive chemicals.  As explained in the beginning chapters, a well designed pond is a functioning ecosystem that mostly maintains itself.  The next chapter deals with what maintenance is still required to keep your natural pond in tip-top shape as well as examples of why many of the maintenance items associated with a traditional pond are not necessary with a natural pond.  The book finishes up with a couple of chapters concerning special cases such as large ponds, swimming pools, bogs, etc.

My only real complaint about this book is one that I have with many books - I really wish the whole book was in color instead of just a few pages.  I understand the choices authors and publishers have to make concerning printing full color but still, it would make the book better.  Still, I 100% recommend this book to anyone thinking about putting in a pond on their property.

I give this book 9 out of 10 acorns. It is super informative on the biological processes that are occurring in a natural pond. It also goes into depth as to how to actually build a pond that will be very healthy and not need any special filtration or other means of cleaning the water. I am so glad there is a book like this out there. My only things I would have wanted is a bit about how to improve ponds that already exist and also more info on ponds without a plastic liner.

Overall, a great book. You will learn a lot.

Thanks so much for this; I'm ordering the book, though I'm concerned it won't answer specific questions I have, based on the caveats posted above.

I'd like to go without a liner entirely and make use of our clay soil here for a small backyard pond in a low, wet area at the bottom of a sloped yard on .33 acre. A PVC pipe from half the gutters on our 1200 sq ft house could also drain into the pond. We also have a need to extend a drainage ditch at the property line that has to carry the gutter drainage from several neighboring properties, and that could be routed into the pond as well, with a gradual overflow beach like the one in the video above, plus continuing the drainage ditch out the other side of the overlow to meet with the neighbor's ditch, all of which eventually flows through a storm sewer to a nearby creek.

Lastly, there's a beautiful bald cypress near the area that is best for the pond site, in the lowest point of the sloped yard. I'm thrilled by the idea of encouraging it to root as bald knobs, which is the other reason to avoid a plastic or other synthetic liner. I don't think to build the pond that digging through big roots will be a problem, as the pond site is far enough away from the tree. Where the PVC drain outflows, there are knobs trying to grow already. In a park not far from our home, there is a bald cypress near a pond, and it's sending up bald knobs a good way from the tree trunk, probably about 10-12 feet.

Questions:

We're coming through a drought right now, and the soil is very cracked. Should I amend the pond bottom with bentonite clay? What's the best way to do this? Should we only add bentonite to fill the cracks, or fully line the bottom with bentonite? Should we tamp the clay using machinery, and if so, before or after the bentonite is added?

How much could reasonably drain into a small pond? Will the PVC pipe from our gutters, plus the drainage ditch, be too much?

Some sources say clay soil + bentonite is bad, and others say it's perfect. What sayest thou, oh permies?

What am I not considering here, for a pond I mean to encourage wildlife while also serving as a retention pond for gutter drainage? I've thought about water from gutters containing some contaminants from roof shingles, but maybe the pond plants will filter/handle that. There won't be any fertilizer runoff because our yard slopes down to the pond, and I will not be using commercial fertilizer, only compost, straw, etc. My hope is to grow healthy plants and encourage amphibians, dragonflies, wildlife.