I have just ordered four more water garden books at very, very cheap prices: I use www.abebooks.com, www.biblio.com, and www.betterworld.com. Better world is the best because you can get all kinds of garden books for $3.48 which includes postage. The others have books as cheap as $1.00 but there is postage to pay too. I go to the library and get about 15-20 pounds of books, review them, and search for the ones I like on the internet. These are the books I have bought: Damp Garden by Beth Chatton, Water Gardens by Carol Spier, Practical Step by Step Water Gardens by Yvonne Rees, Waterscaping by Judy Glattstein, At the Water's Edge by Philip Swindell, Water Gardens for Plants and Fish by Charles B. Thomas, Creating Water Gardens by Better Homes and Gardens, Water Gardens and how to design, install, plant and maintain them by Jacqueline Herileau & Charles B. Thomas. There is only one more that I want; then I will quit (I swear I will quit!) Each one offers something a little different.
I will be moving to a house in the mountains which has a good size spring fed pond already inhabited by goldfish and five kinds of frogs. It does not have any aquatic, bog, or marginal plants though. This is so exciting for me! All I have had before is a drainage ditch at street level on my property. Not everything flourishes there because we don't get very much rain and because primrose don't grow will in the heat here.
A frugal way to get wonderful water garden books
Really great websites, thank you for posting! I just dug a small pond in my backyard and am in need of some good literature. I bet you'll have so much fun with that already existing pond ... all it needs is plants. What a good excuse! :) Susanne