The Ultimate Bonsai Handbook: The Complete Guide for Beginners

by Yukio Hirose

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

Genres: Gardening

256 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2020

Reviews

[Matthew De Moraes · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only the species names had been in English this would have been a 5 star book. Lots of useful information for any person beginner or experienced. Bit repetitive with the repeated reporting guidance but some folk may love that.

[Matty-Swytla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of different bonsai and plants you can turn into bonsai, with helpful tips on when you should do fertilising or pruning depending on the species.

[Reading Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The other reviews are pretty solid on this. It's a beautiful full color book with photos on every page. It does use anglicized Japanese terms for both the tree name and the shapes. I honestly am not mad about that, because I mean...if we're not going to completely culturally appropriate, learning the proper names for things (which honestly may not translate easily) is a part of that.

It has a lot of content about how to care for bonsai but rather than being in one place they're scattered throughout in little 'memo' boxes. I took notes in a separate notebook to have them all in one place. Each tree covered has an 'action calendar' graphic telling you when to do various things like when to prune or fertilize. Each also has a 'management tips' box covering placement, watering, etc. If you can find out which tree you have, this book is invaluable. Even without that, there's plenty of good tips.

Prior to the tree by tree, there's a section on general management, like covering the soil, planting or replanting, wiring, creating jin or shari and types of bonsai shape. I honestly wish this section was a bit longer.

I don't feel like I know enough to start bonsaing a tree but I do know a lot more about the shapes, and the work that goes into it. It appears more 'intermediate' than 'beginner' and I think that's the issue here--it is pitched like a beginner book when it's really not. Still, the pics are gorgeous and you definitely learn how to look at and appreciate this art form as it is intended to be (the connection between pot shape and tree, the various styles of bonsai, etc) in an authentic manner.

[Stoyan Minchev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, if you know Japanese

Nice pictures. Good explanations
For each plant there is an explanation, when to prune within the year. The problem that I've faced was that all tree names were in Japanese. For most of them I was not able to find the English naming

[Khanin Pulsiripanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Japanese style bonsai manual. With so many beautiful pictures for each type of Japanese bonsai and for each method of caring and maintaining good health for bonsai. It's great if you live in the same climate as Japan.

[Ayaan Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent guide for both beginners and experts alike. Detailed information on many tree species, and tips on topics from porting to pruning.

Only complaint is that species names were not translated in English, making that knowledge somewhat difficult to apply to my own bonsai trees.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well organized and incredibly detailed

[Rui Peres · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book if you want to have tips for specific types of bonsais, but if you want more in depth guidance (applicable to all species) you will be disappointed.