The Wildlife Pond Handbook – Review
The Wildlife Pond Handbook by Louise Bardsley |80 Pages | The Wildlife Trusts/New Holland |Paper Back | 2012 | ISBN-978-1-78009-008-5
I’m lucky that I get offered a number of books to review (usually for other sites if I’m honest, not quite got the following here – Hint you can follow me through various options on the right), so when I was offered The Wildlife Pond Handbook by Louise Bardsley and the Wildlife Trusts (and New Holland) I was eager to give it a read, however I am unlucky in that I rent my home (privately) so can’t dig a pond myself (although that will be changing soon so I may keep the book or I may donate to my daughters school not sure yet). Anyway this is meant to be a review not a discussion on my altruism!
The Wildlife Pond Handbook – Review
The book itself is a handy guide covering all you may need to know to start your own garden wildlife pond (or school wildlife pond etc.). It covers planning, design, construction, maintenance, plants and wildlife as well as having a nice Year in the Life of a Pond section. It is jam packed with useful help and some wonderful pictures. And a wonderful forward by Charlie Dimmock.
The wildlife section is my favourite part (it would be wouldn’t it). And covers creatures from bugs to beetles; snails to dragonflies; amphibians; and even birds and mammals. And really gives you an excellent insight into what might end up in your pond.
In Use
OK so as I have said I can’t actually put any of the information in this book into use, however it appears to be very well written with easy explanations. To me the instructions seemed simple and went in depth as and when needed. The writers obviously believed the same as me: That there is no point complicating matters with superfluous explanations for the simpler tasks. They cover areas of Law you should be aware of, such as planning and contacting environment agencies for certain reasons. As well as explaining about moving wildlife and the law. A feature that is very important!
Louise Bardsley also talks about the importance of discussing with your family (or those who use the garden or area) ahead of time, your plans. As she says there is little point having a small boggy area if your kids want to play football.
Conclusion
I thought the book was well written, full of great advice and great pictures and would be a really useful tool if you have the space and home life for a wildlife pond. If you are looking to put in a pond and a wildlife pond may be an option get this book and have a read.You can read more of my reviews here
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DISCLAIMER: I and my family were gifted a free copy of this book for review purposes, this review is our honest opinion of the product.
One Comment
AshleyBeolens
Due to not having a garden I can use this book in I have donated my review copy to my daughters school, where it has already been used by her class when they talked about some frogspawn.