Book Review By Thomas J.

I decided to do a book review once again for this months newsletter. If your one of those people who like to do bonsai from scratch, meaning from seed or seedling, or young nursery stock this book is for you. The title is a bit misleading in a way, as I thought when I started thumbing through it, that I would find trees styled more or less in whats being called lately the "natural style", a leaning away from the traditional Japanese style. This book does have some of those, but it mainly refers to the natural upbringing of the bonsai from seed or seedling,and starting the training with the plan of years before something is finally accomplished. For many though, this is a very uplifting way to do bonsai.

As you go through the book, the author has it laid out in a nice way whereas he first does an overview of the species, and then does a case history of one or more trees in that select species.

Take for instance this Wisteria started from young nursery stock and trained for many years before finally having an appearence that's pleasing to the eye.

Early on in the book, the author gives some preseason tips and general cultivating ideas to help gain a foothold for those who are new to bonsai, or just interested in learning some possible new techniques.

The book is by no means limited to just work on trees. The author also has chapters on such things as "how to make your own concrete pots", a chapter on "deadwood" , and even" bonsai garden ideas".

And if you just like looking at some nice pictures of the authors work on some of his trees, just look at some of these.

This twin trunk Larch,

Or how about this beautiful Maple in Fall colors.

This juniperus virginiana is the result from a piece of stock that most people wouldn't even have considered using. You'll have to go back and read the case history on this one, but after you do, you just might have enough nerve to go out and try something like this yourself.

In addition to all this, I think the one thing I liked most, was while thumbing through the book and seeing some of the detailed work the author did, gave me some pretty good ideas for future work also.

The book is by no means small, both in size and thickness. If your new to bonsai, or are just looking for some fresh ideas, I would highly recommend this book