water book reviews
Here is a selection of books on water systems and methodologies; below the reviews are books I have read and which are awaiting written reviews, plus a bottom section of those that are on my reading list! As you may be aware, this is a passion of mine...!
rain garden at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin.
Rain Gardens
5 stars max
Nigel Dunnett and Andy Claydon
This is a book of tremendous importance as it brings to the public eye the concept of rain gardens. Dunnett is a senior lecturer at Sheffield University, whom I have spoken alongside at several conferences, and he has done more than anybody to popularise this concept within the UK. The modern origins of this concept stem back to the city of Portland, USA, where a huge amount of pioneering work was carried out by Tom Liptan, a landscape architect working for the City's stormwater management department.
Rain gardens are all about how we manage rainwater once it hits the ground. Traditionally, we have, in urban areas, put this water straight into the stormwater drains, but as the urban fabric of society continues to grow, these drains have been unable to cope. This books show how we can all - from city authorities to private individuals - take charge of whatever rainfall hits our own bit of roof or ground. Rain gardens can be extremely diverse in appearance and in fact, need not look any different to other types of garden, it is just a matter of how they function when it rains. The basic idea is that they direct and retain water long enough to allow it to infiltrate into the ground. Ponds and rills appear, then disappear, creating a dynamic, changing landscape and putting the observer in touch with nature's rhythms; I have written about this subject elsewhere on this site.
The book is well illustrated with photos and line drawings by Clayton, a landscape architect and there is a useful plant reference section at the rear, although this is not absolutely comprehensive. The shrubby forms of Potentilla, for example, a plant of unremarkable habit (nice yellow flowers), which is naturalised along river banks in Ireland and subject to prolonged flooding; an ideal, if unusual, subject for a rain garden. I personally would have liked to have seen more integration of greywater with the rain garden philosophy, something that is mentioned briefly by considered (by them) risky, for reasons of pathogen spread. Pre-treatment via a reed bed (which they consider might be ugly but surely would be an integral part of a rain garden look) would seem the ideal and easy solution. Even if, however, the two systems did not interconnect, they are both vital strands in the management of our water resources. Nonetheless, this is an excellent book, a must read - and then do!