Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way

I really enjoy this book. Great reference material, nice pictures, very useful.

This is a wonderful book!! It has it all. Great photos along with instruction and descriptions and even history. But it's not too wordy either. I completely recommend this book for anyone who loves to garden and landscape. It's a great reference book and a good picture book too!

When I first went to Japan I couldn't believe how many trees looked like giant bonsai. This book covers why and how Japanese trees look like that from the point of view of a westerner.It has lots of practical and philosophical content and ideas on fitting this style into a western context.I haven't read the full book yet - let alone tried the ideas out on my trees - but I am glad I bought it.

I love this book and it is already one of my favorites for Japanese gardening. It is also the clearest, most concise explanation of basic pruning techniques (why and how) that I have seen. I gave it only 4 stars for these reasons:1). Although the illustrations are superb, the text needs to be flushed out more for practical use. For instance, in the section on training young pines into a Z shape, the illustrations are clear, but the height/age of the tree to start with is not mentioned. I have a young pine @14" high that resembles the line drawing, but it seems too short to start this process unless I am making a bonsai or miniaturized tree. What height/age range is appropriate for this technique? I would REALLY like to know.2). Not the book's fault, but the seller sent me a beautiful looking copy that reeks of mildew. I am still setting it out in the sun trying to rid the book of the odor; it gives me a headache if I try to read it more than a few minutes, and I badly want to be studying this book!

Amazing book I was wondering if it was worth it, but this is THE ONE. It's organized exactly how I would want and has SO many great example photos!Would go again!

If you are interested in bonsai trees or having trees with artistic display in the garden or enjoy shaping and pruning trees, this is a book for you. It has lots of photos to illustrate and inspire. Easy to read and really inspire to try something more artistic than just the usual round or spiral pruning.

Clearly illustrated for the gardener and arborist who is keen to adapt the plants of their native gardens into the traditional styles of the classical Japanese garden, as well as create their own traditional garden. This is an excellent hands on reference book with species lists, inspiring photography, as well as an interest book for those curious about the traditional horticulture of Japanese gardens. The principles can be applied to gardens throughout the western world.

Very comprehensive yet written in a clear, articulate manner. The ultimate pruning book for anyone wanting to emulate Japanese techniques on their own property, whether your aim is a Japanese garden or just well-pruned trees and shrubs.

Hands down the best, most informative book on Japanese topiary that I have read. This would be a wonderful gift for anyone interested in Japanese pruning. Detailed and thorough. A pleasure to read.

A nice description of history of niwaki and how to make one of your own.

This is an excellent book and really useful if you're interested in pruning trees and (some) other plants in the Japanese style. It contains loads of really good diagrammes, that show step by step how to achieve each look, and give you the confidence to try them, even if you've got no experience, like me. Also, I have a couple of bonsai trees, which I bought last year, and have so far not pruned them at all, as I found all the bonsai books I've bought so far didn't really explain even maintenance pruning very well, and provided hardly any pictures that actually demonstrate the details. Even with online videos, it's sometimes hard to see exactly what they're doing, when they show you pruning methods and I was reluctant to do it wrong.. A lot of the methods used in niwaki can also be applied to bonsais, and this book is the first I've come across that properly explains and shows how to treat pines (and other trees) to achieve those beautiful foliage pads that bonsais and niwaki both have in common. This book explains and demonstrates the mysteries of candle pinching for pines, which seems to be pretty much exactly the same procedure for bonsais and niwaki. Both have in common that they seek to produce the effect of a mature of tree on a smaller scale. The author is at pains to point out that niwaki and bonsai are completely different, as bonsais are in pots and niwaki mainly in the ground (although can also be grown in pots), but the pruning methods used have a lot of similarities and some of the techniques are identical, or very similar, so I found this also very helpful to understand the pruning methods for different bonsai species, too - both formative and maintenance pruning. The book also includes lots of lovely pictures of various Japanese gardens, both large and small, and provides a wealth of interesting background on Japanese gardening, and to some extent, Japanese culture, too. But while there's plenty of theory, so to speak, there's also plenty of practical information that will enable you to re-produce the techniques described. Think this book is well worth the very reasonable price (although it's gone up about £3 since I bought it), but it's still a very good price, considering the quality of content, and would definitely recommend...

Love this book!

Lots of illustration and detail instruction on how to create cloud tree