The Living Art of Bonsai: Principles & Techniques of Cultivation & Propagation (Paperback)
Product Description
“With 288 color pages, Liang’s is one of the best [books on the subject]. Her book includes a breath-taking photo gallery of bonsai, basic styles, group planting, plant physiology, cultivation, propagation, transplanting and repotting, and training and dwarfing–in other words, everything the bonsai grower needs to know.”–Booklist
Cultivating bonsai is a fine art, and this extravagantly produced volume, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of lavish full-color photographs, showcases the very best and most beautiful specimens. Many of the trees have won international awards, were gifts bestowed by heads of state, and have been featured in TV documentaries. Some have even been the subjects of a commemorative stamp series. Professor Amy Liang, a world-famous leader in the field, surveys the history of bonsai in its many schools and styles, and offers practical techniques and highly detailed instructions for those who want to shape and nurture their own trees. The remarkable images display dazzling miniature evergreens, flowering and fruited trees, and their foliage.
Cultivating bonsai is a fine art, and this extravagantly produced volume, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of lavish full-color photographs, showcases the very best and most beautiful specimens. Many of the trees have won international awards, were gifts bestowed by heads of state, and have been featured in TV documentaries. Some have even been the subjects of a commemorative stamp series. Professor Amy Liang, a world-famous leader in the field, surveys the history of bonsai in its many schools and styles, and offers practical techniques and highly detailed instructions for those who want to shape and nurture their own trees. The remarkable images display dazzling miniature evergreens, flowering and fruited trees, and their foliage.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
I have been cultivating and growing Bonsai for 6 years. Although I am not new to this “living Art” I learned a great deal from Dr. Liang who gave such profound insight from her many years of practice. This book is a wonderful reference tool for soil and watering regimines, repotting as well as style designs and tips on the whole picture a Bonsai portrays. From pot selection to choosing stock, to ornament placement. She has truly unique work and her expertise shows is this book that is very pleasurable to look at as well as read.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
This is the most interesting book on bonsai I have seen yet, and a great deal. With 286 pages, and many full color full page photos of most excellent examples of bonsai, this book would be a great coffee table book on its own, even if the owner did not pursue the art. It is in depth, and maybe a little too much for someone with a passing fancy to read through, but if you have a serious interest this is it!
January 13th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
I ordered this book because it sounded comprehensive and promised lots of photos. Having spent a good bit of time looking it over, I confess to very mixed feelings about it. There is a lot of excellent information inside and some very handsome bonsai portraits, but the overall subject treatment varies: sometimes Dr. Liang goes into depth, while at other times her approach remains superficial. Her section “Bonsai Creation,” for instance, runs all of 4 pages (primarily photographs) and essentially recommends spending a lot of time looking at trees. Worse, I couldn’t escape the sense that the book is in some regards a vanity publication. Many of the pictures focus on Dr. Liang and her trees, occasionally including family members, and very few of those pictures are instructive; they seem intended instead to show off her collection. And while the writing is generally solid, the English is at times stilted and could have used editing by someone for whom it is not a second language. Having said all that, it’s not a bad book by any means and it does contain useful information. However, I recommend thinking of it as one source among many and suggest buying a used copy to save a few dollars.