ANNOTATION

Presenting a unique blend of information and ideas, The Complete Book of Bonsai is a comprehensive, practical guide to the traditions and artistic principles of growing and maintaining bonsai trees. Over 300 bonsai trees and shrubs are described, over 100 of them in an outstanding full-color photographic catalogue.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Presenting a unique blend of information and ideas, The Complete Book of Bonsai is the most lavish and up-to-date guide to the subject yet published. Harry Tomlinson is an internationally recognized authority on bonsai, and here brings this absorbing discipline within everybody's reach.

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 afurther 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 ore two trees, or an experienced enthusiast who wishes to build up a whole collection, it is the essential reference work.

Other Details: 700 full-color illustrations 224 pages 9 x 9" Published 1991

enthusiasm and commitment, but it can be approached at many different levels of interest, ambition and ability. I welcome the wide range of interest that exists, from the person with only one or two trees that provide appreciation of the changing of the seasons, to the skilled and dedicated grower whose collection of trees exemplifies bonsai's status as a fine art.

My love of books is incorporated in my fascination with bonsai. I have a comprehensive personal library of bonsai books from all over the world, but I also attempt at my studio to retail the widest possible range of suitable books on bonsai. Over the years, through customers' comments, I have come to realize that the existing books do not completely satisfy their needs. Although there are a few titles that represent an authoritative introduction to the art, some books are written by authors who sell bonsai but never create any, others by authors whose business it is to write books but who have no practical involvement with bonsai.

I have no aspirations to become a professional author, but I am a professional bonsai grower and teacher of the techniques. My aim with this book is to provide a practical reference work of equal value to the beginner and the more experienced enthusiast. I seek to encourage people to try bonsai for themselves and this is the attitude I have tried to foster throughout the book. By following the projects in the chapter entitled Creating a Bonsai, you can be assured of a reasonable result. But remember that this is just a beginning--even the most famous artists had to begin with small steps that simply taught them their craft. Your own progress in both the technical and artistic aspects of bonsai can be tailored to your specific interests, the time you wish to put in, and the enjoyment that you get from growing bonsai. As with a bonsai, which matures and improves with the passing years, your pleasure and satisfaction in growing bonsai can only increase over time.

"This is the most thorough, lavishly... illustrated book any bonsai enthusiast could wish for, written with clarity and inspiration by one of Europe's leading experienced authorities." --Choice

"The author's passion for his subject is communicated on every page." --Elle Decor

"The photographs alone are worth the purchase price." --The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee

Author Biography: Harry Tomlinson is one of Europe's leading bonsai artists and instructors. He has been both studying and practicing the principles of bonsai for almost thirty years, and is an internationally recognized authority on the subject. He has exhibited bonsai and gained awards in Britain and Japan, and has judged the bonsai section at Britain's world-famous Chelsea Flower Show. For the past thirteen years the author has been a professional bonsai artist with his own studio, and is a leading bonsai nurseryman. Greenwood Bonsai Studio, which he runs with his wife Christine, is the largest and most complete bonsai nursery in Britain.

Elvin McDonald, who wrote the Foreword, is Director of Special Projects at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.