Don’t have a green thumb or infinite patience, but still love the intricacy and grace of tiny bonsai trees? This kit is for you! Create four paper models while learning about the history and tradition of bonsai. The fully-illustrated instruction book guides you through the construction of each bonsai model—one for each of the four seasons. The models are fully illustrated, laser cut, heavy duty card stock. These minuscule masterpieces make a great addition to any office or home décor. The four models included are: Spring—cherry blossom tree Summer—orange tree Fall—red maple tree Winter—Podocarpus tree

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!

Bonsai--the Japanese art of training plants to form elegant sculptures--is an age-old craft that appeals to gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Bountiful Bonsai presents a radical, new approach that applies bonsai techniques to everyday container gardening, instantly turning houseplants and herbs into beautiful and unusual bonsai sculptures! Bonsai expert Richard Bender not only expects his plants to look good but also expects to yield pleasant fragrances, fresh herbs and fruits for his table. He shows readers how to create "instant bonsai" by shaping a range of common houseplants, including: Fragrant hibiscus and jasmine Kitchen herbs such as rosemary and thyme Luscious fruits like cherries and oranges Medicinals such as tea tree and camphor laurel This beautifully illustrated volume provides all the information you need to get started, from plant choice advice to care requirements and bonsai "carving" tips. Suitable for indoor gardening, or shaping exquisite bonsai fruit trees for outside gardens, Bender turns a finicky art into a hobby accessible to all. Bonsai have graced Japanese homes for centuries; now they can yield useful crops that will simultaneously satisfy your artistic sensibility and also provide some wonderful meals!

In this luxurious cloth bound hardcover with glossy slipcase, renowned botanical photographer Jonathan Singer presents his breathtaking images of the world's most notable bonsai. In Fine Bonsai: Art & Nature, the finest extant achievements in the art of bonsai are seen together for the first time, through the lens of renowned botanical photographer Jonathan Singer. This magnificent volume is the result of an extensive photographic campaign, in the course of which Singer was granted unprecedented access to the most respected public and private collections in Japan and the United States, including the mecca of bonsai, the Omiya Bonsai Village of Saitama, Japan, where photography is normally prohibited. Three hundred stunning full-page images and four lavish gatefolds present bonsai of all types, from quiet representations of nature to bold sculptural forms. The horticultural and aesthetic characteristics of each bonsai are concisely and authoritatively described in the narrative captions by William Valavanis, head of the International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester, New York. And because the container is considered an integral part of any bonsai—indeed, the literal meaning of “bonsai” is “tray plant”—the book also includes some twenty-five photographs of traditional bonsai containers, with descriptions. A further sequence of twenty-five photographs is devoted to the related art of suiseki, or miniature stone landscapes displayed in the same manner, and often alongside, bonsai. With his groundbreaking first book, Botanica Magnifica, Jonathan Singer established a new style of botanical photography, characterized by an exceptional clarity of detail and richness of color, as well as a painterly chiaroscuro. These qualities are just as evident in the present volume; Singer photographs each bonsai with an artist’s—one might even say a portraitist’s—eye. Whereas most books on bonsai aim to instruct readers on techniques of care and cultivation, Singer’s book takes the reader on a visual journey. His images encompass many different species, from azalea to red maple, as well as a variety of blossoms and fruits. Alluring and serene, Singer's photographs make the experience of leafing through Bonsai not unlike entering a real Japanese garden. Fine Bonsai: Art & Nature not only documents the masterpieces of an ancient horticultural art, but is a masterpiece in itself. A portion of the proceeds of this book will benefit the Japanese Red Cross.

Learn the ins and outs of proper bonsai design and care with this comprehensive Japanese gardening book. Japanese bonsai have long been admired throughout the world while their care and preservation have seemed shrouded in mystery. The Art of Bonsai is, however, a comparatively simple art to learn. Anyone with a love a plants, a little patience and this eminently practical book can create bonsai and keep a finished plant healthy and vigorous for generations. Included in this definitive volume are: Detailed, illustrated instructions on propagation and training Hints for those growing bonsai in a hurry and apartment dwellers Daily and seasonal bonsai care practices Dealing with pests and bonsai troubleshooting How to judge, select and exhibit bonsai Detailed appendices on tools, equipment, soil analyses Data on more than 300 species of plants used in making bonsai This classic work remains an eminently practical book and is the classic guide to bonsai care. It contains the essentials of an art that is one of Japan's most treasured traditions--sculpting beauty in living wood.

Plant, soil, moss, twine--that's all you need to create the exciting form of bonsai known as koke (moss) dama (ball). Moss Ball Bonsai provides all the information you need to make these self-contained gardens, using different types of plants--from flowering trees and ferns to grasses and cacti. A sampling of 100 different kokedama shows how even the most common of house plants can shine in this appealing no-pot environment, while a section on mosses acquaints you with the many tones and textures of this versatile plant family. With this bonsai guide, you will learn how to: Create and maintain a healthy home for your miniature garden's root system Use inexpensive house plants and cuttings as the basis of your kokedama Make beautiful (and quirky) group plantings within a single project Find, collect and propagate moss And more! Whether resting on a pottery dish or suspended in the air, these little indoor gardens are a wonderful way to add a touch of artistry and greenery to your home or work space.

Begin your lifelong love affair with the mindful art of bonsai. Do you know your shari from your nebari? Can you tell literati styling from informal upright? Want to know how to create that gnarled and twisted look? Let Happy Bonsai guide you along the path to enlightenment, with care and display profiles for 40 top trees and fully illustrated step-by-steps of more than 20 bonsai techniques and styles. Find your perfect tree and discover how to prune, shape, and tend to its needs to create a beautiful living sculpture. Fall in love with this most meditative of garden crafts.