I think the books you need are available at most big box home improvement stores, you know, Ortho, Better Homes & Gardens (BHG) and Sunset publish them. There are others there too. I picked up three or four and after reading them, and seeing what those pros did and what they did differently, I had a basic understanding. Usually there are a lot of pictures accompanying the step by step procedures. A couple I used last year before I expanded my pond, it was a large expansion, and that I really enjoyed were: Ortho's All About Building Waterfalls, Ponds, & Streams Home Depots' Water Gardens 1-2-3 (hardcover) BHG's Water Gardens Sunsets' book Picked up some at the local pond store but you know what, I didn't care for them as much. The material can get dated pretty quickly... like "The Pond Doctor." Good Book but...??? Also, don't discount the usefulness in the lists of products and websites most of the books publish in the back pages. If you go to some of those manufacturers websites you can read and see just what they recommend. I like SAVIO's quite a bit. Then you can also go to the online stores, many of them have helpful hints. I started a binder and keep all of my plans, measurements, readings, product literature stored-up in one location. It can be a long process and I hate having to scramble to find where 'I once read' something. And finally, those books I first listed are really good on the construction part of the process, moderately good on the aquatic plants and life in the ponds, but light on the water chemistry aspects... that's where a website like this is really terrific. Have fun and remember most "ponders" tinker with the setups so you're never truly finished with your pond! Good Luck!

I had the video at one time but can't locate it...possibly loaned it to some lowlife who failed to return it! lol Anyway, the video was great if you liked the exuberant garden shown in his book. I enjoyed the "video-visit" to his garden but wouldn't want the care it must require. He walks thru his garden naming plants, selecting flowers for a huge basket arrangement, shows off small goldfish pool and his dining room (ceiling covered with pressed magnolia leaves), a little bit about greenhouse, and small topiaries of Ivy in boxes with tiny groundcover/edging. I think you would enjoy it if you liked his garden and book...he's a unique individual. The video also included a pamphlet listing the plants in his garden. Wish I could recall where I ordered the video...I know I used to get a catalog and they listed lots of videos for professional landscapers and nurseries like "How to Train your Employees", "Pruning Techniques", etc. ...maybe that will ring a bell with someone and they can point you in right direction. Or you might try e-bay. Good luck. josh

Please follow the link below for more professional information since I may accidentally make this sound lame and disjointed. It's only because I am as yet uneducated. My sister with the Masters in Horticulture from NC State insists that I take Will Hooker's class. She loved it. Permaculture ("permanent" + "culture" or "permanent" + "agriculture") is a design philosophy developed by Bill Mollison in the 1970's. It basically teaches you to use nature's principles as your own as you build your home and structures, design your landscape, think about water and energy. The point is sustainability focusing on intensive small-scale food production by developing the natural relationships between plants and animals. I am really interested in the landscaping principles since I'm in The American Suburb. Right now, the land is what I can control most. Permaculture principles that I need to learn about are things like "food forests" where you layer different plants as you would find them in nature. Canopy, low tree layer (like dwarf fruits), shrubs, herbaceous plants, root crops, cover crops, and climbers/vines. I don't know yet what that means for me who lives on the edge of real woods and just figures I'll do straight-up raised beds. I want to know more. There's also a principle of "everything must have at least two uses". One example is housing your chickens in a chicken tractor so you can position them under your grape arbor. You shake down your vines, the beetles drop into the tractor. You save your grapes, you feed your chickens... Since I don't have chickens (yet!...), I want to see what else I might dual-purpose. I'm itching to build my arbor. Another observation/principle is that there is no waste in nature. Everything has a purpose and returns to the earth somehow. One man's apple core is another worm's dinner. That kind of thing. We all know composting is good, right? One of the desired results of permaculture is efficiency. There's much more that I don't know about. You might be able to tell that I haven't gotten my hands on the books yet but I do want to learn before I commit to my backyard landscape design. That's why I want cohorts in Charlotte :) This is the link to the course description at NC State. http://delta.ncsu.edu/apps/coursedetail/index.php?id=HS:590::601:FALL:2009 Here is a link that might be useful: Permaculture

We have the same problem with *your* books !!! Oriented all wrong to the sun! Seriously Aussie land is a big place. There's the northern tropical monsoon area where they have 2 seasons - wet and dry. There's the lower tropics and sub tropics, wet summers and dry mild winters. There's the alpine and Tasmanian cold (for Aus!) and wet areas. And then there's the mediterranean zone where they have wet winters and dry summers. I haven't read this book yet but it seems popular so that's another resource for my list.