This classic work remains an eminently practical book about bonsai, one of japan's most fascinating arts. Japanese miniature landscapes and dwarf trees have long been admired throughout the world. There is something so magical, ethereal even about their gemlike beauty that their creation has generally been thought an occult science, and even their care and preservation have seemed shrouded in mystery.

As this book proves, however, the creation and care of bonsai form a comparatively simple art which can be systematically taught and learned. Given a reasonably green thumb, a modicum of patience, and the knowledge contained in this volume, anyone can create bonsai and keep a finished plant healthy and vigorous for generations.

Included here are detailed instructions, together with helpful diagrams and charts and a treasury of photographs, on every phase of the art: propagation and training, with hints for those in a hurry and for apartment dwellers: daily and seasonal care: dealing with pests: and how to judge, select, and exhibit bonsai.
Included also , for those who want still more detailed information, are invaluable appendices concerning tools and equipment, soil analyses, and precise data on the more than three hundred species of plants used in making bonsai.

This handy volume is an indispensable guidebook to bonsai, containing the essentials of an art that is one of Japan's most treasured traditions - sculpting beauty in living wood.