A compact guide to everything bonsai.

The Japanese and Chinese have been creating bonsai trees for centuries and it is now an internationally popular pastime. This compact and stylish guide will provide everything you need to know to grow bonsai successfully, including shaping with wires, watering, seasonal maintenance, tackling common ailments, choosing the right container, feeding and repotting. A directory of over 180 of the most popular species, illustrated with beautiful photographs, will enable you to find the tree that is right for you.

The allure of bonsai

For generations, people all over the world have been captivated with bonsai, the practice of cultivating miniature trees in containers. Bonsai gives both practitioners and admirers a unique and enchanting experience with its delicate beauty and profound symbolism. This essay will explore the allure of bonsai, exploring its historical and cultural significance, the aesthetic allure of miniature trees, and the deeper deeper meanings of this ancient art form.

Ancient China and Japan are where bonsai first appeared as a representation of the Zen philosophy and awe for the natural world. In China, bonsai, often referred to as penjing, was developed as a miniature representation of the natural world, encapsulating the essence of mountains, rivers, and forests. Later, it was brought to Japan, where it developed into the style of art that is familiar to us today. As bonsai became intertwined in Japanese culture, it was used in poems, ceremonies, and even as objects for meditation. The cultural significance and long history of bonsai, which holds the weight of tradition and aesthetic heritage, add to its attractiveness.

Named one of Washington Gardener Magazine's Top Ten Garden Books of 2024!

Take a master class by one of the world's greatest living bonsai masters!

Kunio Kobayashi is one the world's most recognized bonsai artists. In this comprehensive book, he presents all the essential techniques needed to plant and maintain the most popular types of bonsai--from pines, cypress and cedar to flowering trees and other beloved varieties, including grasses.

Bonsai Master Class is a book for new fans and longtime aficionados alike, showing you how, with the help of human hands, a bonsai tree can evolve and thrive over centuries. This book provides you with all the vital information you need, including:

• A thorough explanation of the basic bonsai types and styles, and their characteristics
• Guidance in the art of selecting the right plants, pots and spaces to display your bonsai
• Tips on getting started including purchasing the plants, assembling the necessary tools and choosing the soils
• Advice and techniques for planting, repotting, watering, pruning, shaping, wiring and protecting your plants, including a seasonal schedule of tasks for each type of bonsai
• Detailed lessons for specific bonsai varieties like Japanese cypress, red pine, maple, zelkova, sakura and more!

You'll be inspired by Kobayashi's award-winning bonsai ranging from classic types to out-of-the-box originals, showing how this art form is as individual as it is traditional. His book will become your bible as you nurture and cultivate your skills and knowledge of these venerable plants.

Welcome to the world of bonsai

A long-revered art form known as bonsai attracts admirers with its miniature trees, which represent the harmony and beauty of nature. With a rich history and culture, bonsai has traveled over time and space to become a well-liked hobby and form of artistic expression on a global scale. We will go into the fascinating world of bonsai in this section, looking at its history, relevance, and the tremendous effects it has on those that take this journey.

Ancient China is where bonsai originated, and there, miniature tree cultivation dates back more than a thousand years. It used to be a sort of elite-only art that stood for riches and authority. The Chinese term penjing, which translates to tray scenery, included the construction of miniature landscapes with figurines, pebbles, and trees. This custom slowly spread to Japan and developed into what is now known as bonsai.

Beyond simple horticulture or gardening, bonsai represents much more. It captures the deep bond between people and the natural environment. The meticulous care to detail and nurture necessary for bonsai development encourage patience and focus. Every tree has a unique narrative that captures the essence of the artist's vision as well as the passage of time. Bonsai inspires us to take a moment, think, and recognize the beauty that exists even in the most minute details.

An in-depth exploration spanning 800 years of the art, essence, and enduring impact of the Japanese garden.

The most comprehensive exploration of the art of the Japanese garden published to date, this book covers more than eight centuries of the history of this important genre. Author and garden designer Sophie Walker brings fresh insight to this subject, exploring the Japanese garden in detail through a series of essays and with 100 featured gardens, ranging from ancient Shinto shrines to imperial gardens and contemporary Zen designs. Leading artists, architects, and other cultural practitioners offer personal perspectives in newly commissioned essays.

For everyone from beginners to masters, an essential full-color guide to growing, grooming, and caring for your bonsai tree.

Bonsai is the ancient craft of carefully regulating the growth and shape of trees in order to produce miniature versions of mature trees. Dating back over one thousand years to ancient Japan, bonsai trees are some of the most beautiful and meticulously looked-after plants in the world, and in recent years bonsai have exploded in popularity in the Western world.

Bonsai, written by world-renowned bonsai expert Peter Chan, is the essential compendium for anyone interested in trying out bonsai for the first time or adding more bonsai to their existing collections, detailing everything you need to know about buying and maintaining a magnificent bonsai tree, including:

• How to pick the right bonsai for you
• Tools and supplies to ensure your bonsai prospers
• How to shape your bonsai into different styles
• How different pots affect the growth of your bonsai
• And much more

With hundreds of color photographs and easy-to-read directions and explanations on a variety of subjects, Bonsai is the only book you'll ever need to successfully start and maintain your own beautiful bonsai tree collection.

Bonsai is simply the art and science of growing miniature trees and shrubs in decorative pots. And yet, there is so much mystique surrounding its practice that many people, including those with green fingers, are put off by what appears to be a very complicated and lengthy process. However, if one were to take the trouble to delve a little deeper one would soon discover that ordinary horticultural principles are involved, and that bonsai is really no more than an extension of everyday gardening. The only difference is that the trees and pots have a particular aesthetic quality about them both as individuals in their own right and as ensembles.

CLASSIC STYLES EXPLAINED
The origins and development of bonsai are traced, and the underlying principles of this fascinating art clearly explained. The classic styles are listed and illustrated, together with full descriptions of how they were derived from models in the world. Outstanding examples of plantings in all of the various styles are shown. The types of containers are detailed, and the importance of their use for different trees or styles explained. Advice is given on placing and exhibiting your completed bonsai.

CLEAR STEP-BY-STEP SEQUENCES
There is comprehensive information on how to create a bonsai from a seedling, cutting, or garden center plant. Clear step-by-step sequences take you from the initial raw material through to the finished bonsai, showing the superb results that can be achieved. All the tools and techniques of bonsai are illustrated and explained, and their use described in detail. Maintenance and propagation sections tell you everything you need to know to keep your bonsai beautiful and healthy, or to create your own trees.

DETAILS OF MORE THAN 100 SPECIES
A photographic catalogue of bonsai trees and shrubs lies at the heart of the book, providing the cultivation and styling details of over 100 different species. Each entry is accompanied by an original full-color photograph of at least one outstanding specimen. This section is supplemented by a further compendium of trees and shrubs that can be grown as bonsai, giving a total of over 300 to choose from.

The Complete Book of Bonsai reveals every aspect of the art, with inspirational ideas and practical advice at every turn. Whether you are a beginner who would like to grow just one or two trees, or an experienced enthusiast who wishes to build up a whole collection, it is the essential reference work.

Written by one of Japan's foremost experts, The Ultimate Bonsai Handbook provides a complete overview of every aspect of bonsai gardening.

Over 1,000 photos demonstrate each step involved in raising and caring for 70 types of bonsai, supporting the book's learn by imitation and observation approach. This detailed book will serve as a timeless reference to cultivating pines, maples, flowering and fruit bearing trees and many other varieties.

This practical, comprehensive bonsai guide includes information about:

• Types of bonsai and how to choose them
• Basic tree shapes and how to display them
• Tools, soils, and containers
• Transplanting, root trimming, watering and fertilizing
• Propagation, pruning, wiring and support
• And much more!

Bring the art and beauty of Japan to your garden with inspiration from Kyoto Gardens. --HGTV Gardens

By design, Kyoto's gardens possess a unique ability to provoke deep contemplation and joy in equal measure. This book is a labor of love from master photographer Ben Simmons and longtime Kyoto-based writer Judith Clancy. It contains lyrical images and poetic essays describing Kyoto's most famous gardens--most of them now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including:

• Kyoto's Old Imperial Palace Garden: A massive walled complex filled with flowering plants, trees and buildings which served as the official residence of the Japanese emperor for over 500 years before 1868 and is now a public park.
• Heian Jingu Shrine Garden: Constructed on the site of the ancient capital and filled with lush greenery, ponds, rocks, bridges and pavilions which float above the water, providing a sense of tranquility and natural beauty.
• Ginkaku-ji Pure Land Garden: An earthly paradise featuring a massive truncated mound of packed sand that is resculpted by hand daily, this site was originally designed as a private villa by one of Kyoto's rulers then turned into a Zen Buddhist temple upon his death.
• Kinkaku-ji Estate Garden: Perhaps Kyoto's most recognizable sight, a Golden Pavilion perched on the edge of a tranquil pond on whose smooth surface are reflected beautiful rocks and cypress trees placed all around it.
• Ryoan-ji Zen Rock Garden: The purest expression of a world in miniature, expressed as a sea of raked gravel with islands of natural stone and moss set in its midst, walled off from the outside world to provide a place for meditation and contemplation.
• Saiho-ji Moss Garden: Famed for its moist and soft, shimmering green covering of moss, this unique estate was designed in the 14th century and radically altered the art of the Japanese garden.
• Tofuku-ji Zen Garden: An ancient temple site which contains some of the best examples of a new contemporary gardening style pioneered by Mirei Shigemori in the early 20th century, featuring enormous rocks set in a sea of raked gravel and irregular checkboard squares set in a soft bed of moss ringed by azalea bushes.
• Plus two dozen other masterful gardens!

Simmons' sensitive photos present a fresh, contemporary look at these timeless gardens while Clancy's graceful descriptions provides historic, aesthetic and cultural context. This new edition has been updated and revised, with many new photographs added.

Learn how to create a tranquil outdoor space at home with this practical and inspiring guide!

With instructive drawings and step-by-step techniques, Inside Your Japanese Garden walks you through designing and creating your very own Japanese garden. From small projects like benches and gates, to larger undertakings like bridges and mud walls, this book provides a wide variety of ways to enhance the space around your home, no matter the size. Instructions on how to work with stone, mud and bamboo--as well as a catalogue of the 94 plant varieties used in the gardens shown in the book--round out this complete guide.

This book also features 19 gardens that author Sadao Yasumoro has designed and built in Japan, and some--like those at Visvim shop in Tokyo and at Yushima Tenjin in Tokyo--are open to the public. From small tsuboniwa courtyard gardens to a large backyard stroll garden with water features, stairs and walls, these real-life inspirations will help spark your own garden plan.

These inspirational garden projects include:

• Tea Garden for an Urban Farmhouse featuring a clay wall with a split-bamboo frame and a stone base
• The Landslide That Became a Garden with a terraced slope, trees, bushes, long grasses and moss
• A Buddha's Mountain Retreat of Moss and Stone with vertical-split bamboo and brushwood fencing
• Paradise in an Urban Jungle with a pond, Japanese-style bridge, and stone lanterns

Each garden is beautifully photographed by Hironori Tomino and many have diagrams and drawings to show the essential elements used in the planning and construction.

Miniature Moss Gardens presents expert advice and techniques from Japan, the birthplace of miniature gardening.

In Japan, moss is revered for its sublime colors and textures, inspiring gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Moss can be found everywhere--in your garden, in crevices between stones, and in cracks in the city concrete. In the tiny world of terrariums, container gardens, dish gardens and kokedama (moss ball gardens), moss is a magic carpet that turns a diminutive plot of soil into a self-contained living world.

You'll learn about:

• Finding and collecting moss
• Choosing soils and containers
• Designing your garden for visual effect
• Choosing the best plants for your mini garden
• Making a perfect kokedama moss ball garden
• Enhancing your moss garden with rocks and other design elements
• Designing a gorgeous terrarium
• And much more!

Miniature Moss Gardens offers expert advice and techniques from the birthplace of miniature gardening. One of the only books in print to focus on moss and miniature gardens, it is friendly enough for total beginners and full of ideas and tips for experienced gardeners.

In this book, renowned garden designer Motomi Oguchi offers the reader a step-by-step, practical approach to creating Japanese gardens, drawn from a wealth of experience that covers thirty years and encompasses the design of more than 400 gardens. The author uses real examples from gardens he has designed, constructed, and photographed to illustrate his key points, approaching each work from the perspective of the home or building owner.

Oguchi begins with front gardens, as these are usually what one encounters first when entering a home. Typically, these front plantings are not defined Japanese garden types but rather, physical areas. He then moves on to tsubo niwa (courtyard gardens) and kare sansui (dry gardens) that might be found in the middle or rear of a building, or any available small space. Next, he introduces tea and tree gardens, which are more likely to be sections of a larger garden; and highlights specific characteristics and conditions of interior gardens.

Within each chapter are general layouts and methods of developing the various gardens, which precede specific, step-by-step instructions. The author also offers practical and affordable variations on more ambitious designs and shows how they can be adapted to the reader's home or building. In addition, Oguchi emphasizes the importance of proper maintenance and offers suggestions for special touches and restoration.

Over the years, Japanese gardeners have fine-tuned a distinctive set of pruning techniques that coax out the essential characters of their garden trees, or niwaki. In this highly practical book, Western gardeners are encouraged to draw upon the techniques and sculpt their own garden trees to unique effect. After first discussing the principles that underpin the techniques, the author offers in-depth guidelines for shaping pines, azaleas, conifers, broadleaved evergreens, bamboos and deciduous trees. Throughout the text, step-by-step illustrations accompany the instructions, while abundant photographs and anecdotes bring the ideas surrounding niwaki vividly to life.

Discover the transformative artistry of five leading landscape architects in North America as they redefine the beauty and serenity of Japanese-style gardens.

Japanese gardens are found throughout the world today--their unique forms now considered a universal art form. This stunning Japanese gardening book examines the work of five leading landscape architects in North America who are exploring the extraordinary power of Japanese-style garden design to create an immersive experience promoting personal and social well-being.

Master garden designers Hoichi Kurisu, Takeo Uesugi, David Slawson, Shin Abe and Marc Keane have each interpreted the style and meaning of the Japanese garden in unique ways in their innovative designs for private, commercial and public spaces.

Several recent Japanese-style gardens by each designer are featured in this book with detailed descriptions and sumptuous color photos:

• Hoichi Kurisu--transformative spaces for spiritual and physical equilibrium.
• Takeo Uesugi--bright, flowing gardens that evoke joyful living.
• David Slawson--evocations of native place that fuse with the surrounding landscape.
• Shin Abe--dynamically balanced visual stories that produce meaning and comfort.
• Marc Keane--reflections on human connections with nature through the art of gardens.

Also included are essays on the designers and mini-essays by them about gardens in Japan which have most inspired their work, as well as commentaries by patrons and visitors to their North American gardens.

Master the art of growing healthy, robust and gorgeous bonsai trees and unlock the therapeutic benefits of the ancient practice with this comprehensive guide to cultivating bonsai trees

Have you ever laid eyes upon a magnificent bonsai tree and wondered if you could replicate that beauty in your own home and private space? Do you want to adopt a wholesome new hobby that will develop your gardening chops while helping you get rid of stress?

If yes, then you absolutely need to get your hands on this guide

In this book, Daiki Sato covers everything you need to need to know about bonsai trees to become a bonafide expert, from its history and modern practices to designing, growing and successfully maintaining and attractive, well-kept bonsai trees.

Here's a small snippet of what you're going to learn in the definitive guide to growing bonsai:

• The 5 basic styles of bonsai gardening and how to choose the style you want based on your preference and level of skill
• The 3 essential bonsai growing styles that are perfect for beginners to get started with
• The different types of trees that are great for bonsai gardening, and how to choose one best suitable for your lifestyle
• A comprehensive list of all the necessary tools you're going to need if you want to cultivate robust bonsai trees without fuss or headaches
• The 3 most important features to consider when choosing the perfect pot or container to house your bonsai tree
• How to select the right soil and mix your own potting soil to cultivate your bonsai tree
• Step-by-step instructions to wire and bend a bonsai tree with essential wiring tips to make it easier
• ...and tons more

Growing beautiful, healthy and gorgeous bonsai trees is a skill anyone can learn, no matter your level of gardening skills or experience. Filled with insights and practical advice, this guide has all the information you need to create balance and liven up your living space with beautiful miniature trees.

Scroll to the top of the page and click the Buy Now button to uncover the fascinating world of bonsai today

96 breathtakingly stunning Japanese gardens you must visit in Kyoto

Kyoto's gardens are among the city's many glories. They are beautiful, thought-provoking. These unparalleled works of art at the creative frontier between man and nature date mainly from the Kamakura, Muromachi, and early Edo periods (approximately 1200 to 1650). These were eras of political and cultural ferment left us with many significant developments in the arts from the Noh theater to weaving and dyeing. The gardens of Kyoto featured in this book are a spectacular example of this peerless art form and collectively form a distinctive aspect of Japanese cultural heritage. Gardens, by incorporating living elements into a man-made design that is then integrated with buildings and other structures, necessarily embody their builders' philosophies concerning the relationship between humanity and nature. Those can be, very broadly speaking, divided into philosophies that view human beings as either dominant over or part of nature. Gardens in East Asia, and Japan in particular, tend to be of natural landscapes. The age-old Japanese view of how human beings should relate to nature is realized on a grand scale in the gardens of Kyoto.

This book introduces the soul of Kyoto, the Japanese garden, in an unbroken continuity from the Heian period until today. Addressing their variations through the sub-categories of temple gardens, gardens of the Imperial Family and aristocratic households, and urban courtyard and other gardens, this book offers an insight into the compelling fascination that the beauty and philosophical depth of these gardens inspire.

Shunmyo Masuno, Japan's leading garden designer, is at once Japan's most highly acclaimed landscape architect and an 18th-generation Zen Buddhist priest, presiding over daily ceremonies at the Kenkoji Temple in Yokohama. He is celebrated for his unique ability to blend strikingly contemporary elements with the traditional design vernacular. He has worked in ultramodern urban hotels and some of Japan's most famous classic gardens. In each project, his work as a designer of landscape architecture is inseparable from his Buddhist practice. Each becomes a Zen garden, a special spiritual place where the mind dwells.

This beautiful book, illustrated with more than 400 drawings and color photographs, is the first complete retrospective of Masuno's work to be published in English. It presents 37 major gardens around the world in a wide variety of types and settings: traditional and contemporary, urban and rural, public spaces and private residences, and including temple, office, hotel and campus venues. Masuno achieved fame for his work in Japan, but he is becoming increasingly known internationally, and in 2011 completed his first commission in the United States which is shown here.

Zen Gardens, divided into three chapters, covers: Traditional Zen Gardens, Contemporary Zen Gardens and Zen Gardens outside Japan. Each Zen garden design is described and analyzed by author Mira Locher, herself an architect and a scholar well versed in Japanese culture.

Celebrating the accomplishments of an influential, world-class designer, Zen Gardens also serves as something of a master class in Japanese garden design and appreciation: how to perceive a Japanese garden, how to understand one, even how to make one yourself. Like one of Masuno's gardens, the book can be a place for contemplation and mindful repose.

Bonsai, an ancient tradition with its origins in China, is a fascinating 'living art' that captures the beauty and strength of trees and shrubs in miniature. Developed as a fine art form in Japan, it inspires and intrigues gardeners the world over.
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Starting with a fascinating introduction to bonsai, the book defines and describes this ancient craft, explaining the best trees and shrubs to use as well as the importance of bonsai size, proportion and aesthetics. The art of displaying bonsai is also examined in some detail, with useful advice on pots and containers, display stands, accessories and accent planting, as well as how to display bonsai indoors and outdoors. A beautifully illustrated section on the bonsai year looks at growing seasonal bonsai, from the glory of cerise azaleas in spring to the flaming colours of autumn acers, while a photographic gallery provides stunning images of over 40 mature bonsai specimens, with statistical information on their age and the method of training.
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The essential techniques of this precise art form are clearly described, and there is practical guidance on tools and equipment, propagation, and soil types, as well as on basic pruning, shaping and wiring. There is also advice on advanced bonsai techniques for creating beautiful flowering and fruiting bonsai, including azaleas and rhododendrons, chrysanthemum, fuchsia, prunus and wisteria. An invaluable bonsai directory provides horticultural information on a variety of popular species for both indoors and outside, while a chapter on caring for bonsai gives advice on watering, feeding and general maintenance regimes, as well as coping with pests and diseases.
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A unique inspirational and practical section on bonsai styles describes 15 of the most popular methods of cultivation, from formal and informal upright to slanting and windswept, and includes how-to instruction on how to achieve each example.
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Written by one of the foremost bonsai specialists, the book is beautifully illustrated with over 600 specially commissioned photographs featuring stunning portraits of excellent bonsai specimens and practical, informative step-by-step sequences.
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The essential practical guide to a classic art with techniques, step-by-step projects and over 800 photographs
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Contains useful guidelines for choosing the best trees and shrubs, as well as understanding bonsai proportions and aesthetics
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Gives expert step-by-step advice on all the basic techniques, such as defoliating and wiring, as well as how-to sequences for designing and styling 15 classic bonsai styles from formal and informal upright to slanting and windswept
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Provides helpful suggestions for displaying bonsai successfully, with expert guidance on containers, display stands and accessories
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Includes an invaluable visual directory of over 40 of the most suitable bonsai plants, as well as advice on seasonal care and maintenance
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A stunning and fully comprehensive reference that is ideal for the beginner as well as the more experienced bonsai artist
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'A masterly account for beginner and expert alike written with enthusiasm and authority.' Roy Lancaster, OBE.
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This step-by-step bonsai book shows you how to craft super mini bonsai--the smallest form of bonsai!

Miniature Bonsai reveals the Japanese art of super-mini bonsai gardening. As rewarding as full-scale bonsai cultivation is, mini bonsai is affordable, straightforward to learn and kind to your busy schedule. It's a complete gardening experience--a plant raised from seed or cutting, carefully potted, grown and maintained over time--a world of green in a pot no bigger than a demitasse or a thimble.

From mixing the right growing medium to choosing the perfect pot to displaying your mini bonsai, this Japanese gardening book gives you basic techniques and valuable tips to help you grow miniature:

• flowering trees
• pines
• maples
• oaks
• junipers
• and other varieties of tiny trees and potted plants that are readily available and last for years

With Miniature Bonsai you'll learn how to:

• Select plants that thrive as mini bonsai
• Work with seeds and small cuttings
• Match the right plant to the right pot
• Buy and prepare the growing medium
• Maintain and drain your miniature bonsai
• Display and enjoy your prized bonsai plants
• And much more!

A pleasant pastime, a perfect gift, a beautiful addition to spaces small and large--Miniature Bonsai will show you how to make it happen.

Go beneath the soil with this hand-drawn guide

This book is sure to become your go-to reference for all things bonsai. Beautifully illustrated with details and views a camera simply can't show, Introduction to Bonsai offers a unique and insightful look at these mini ecosystems.

This complete guide contains all the information you need to create and maintain your own bonsai:

• Handy monthly bonsai maintenance schedules detail proper watering, pruning, wiring, transplanting and other upkeep activities throughout the year
• Leaves, fruits, flowers, and processes are presented up-close to help make growing and upkeep as successful and simple as possible
• Diagrams show where, how much, and in what direction pruning, wiring, watering and other maintenance should be performed
• Clear, detailed illustrations of every part of the bonsai ensure that you'll see everything you need to see, exactly as you need to see it--making this a great resource for collectors and enthusiasts at all levels

Learn the specific ways to care for more than 40 types of popular bonsai trees, including:

• Flowering Bonsai--cherry blossom, dogwood, azalea and lilac
• Fruiting Bonsai--crab apple, persimmon, Chinese quince and burning bush
• Coniferous and Deciduous Bonsai--maple, Japanese beech, black pine and salt cedar

Prepared by the editors of Japan's popular Bonsai Sekai (Bonsai World) magazine, this handbook is designed to make care and maintenance easy for bonsai beginners--from seeds to root systems and from basic watering to your first transplant.