The Bonsai Book - by, Dan Barton
I bought this book a few years ago whilst wondering around a second-hand book shop. It only cost a couple of pounds and initially I just bought it purely because it was about bonsai. At the time I bought it I had no knowledge of the author as a bonsai artist or the acclaim that this book had amongst the community. I now know, mostly in thanks to this book, a bit more about the work of Dan Barton and some of his famous trees. The book was first published in 1989, and is a larger A4-sized hardback.
The book starts like many others, giving the background to bonsai, talking about where it came from and some of the philosophies it holds. He discusses in depth about how the “soul” of a tree must be discovered before the bonsai can be created. This is a very useful point and you could be mistaken to substitute “soul” for “style”, however I think what he was implying was the character and aspects that make the tree unique must be found and then these worked around in the design. After this, there is a section on where to gather useful material for bonsai. At this point in the book I was already struck by the number of wonderful photographs and hand-drawn diagrams to illustrate each point. Carrying on, pots and repotting procedure is briefly talked about, again, with relevant pictures to help. The next section talks about different compost mixes for different species of bonsai tree, and how to make you own mixes. This is the only section in the book that I feel suffers a little from its age. This, however, is inevitable, with constant new progressions in areas like growing medium, even ideas of less than 10 years ago would seem dated. The mixes stated in the book are still perfectly sound, it is just now that even more effective solutions have been discovered. Then, tools, and general maintenance are dealt with, including, watering, feeding and siting your bonsai.
The next section, is one of the gems of the book for me, it is an extensive look at the different styles of bonsai. First he sets out the “Prime order of 5 styles” which include, formal upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade, and cascade. Each one of these styles has a full description of what makes up the particular style, some suitable species, brief training, pots, and even the general “essence” of the style. After the first 5 are dealt with, he goes on to discuss all other variations on these. This section is a great read, it really gives you an idea of each style, also accompanying each description are examples of bonsai in this style, and diagrams to show you too. If I am looking to produce a specific style I will often read through this section again to get a good feel for what I am trying to achieve.
In the next part the techniques for styling and maintaining bonsai are set out. This chapter, again, contains an extremely useful section, regarding candle pruning of pines. He shows with the use of drawings, how and when to prune the candles on pine bonsai depending on what outcome you wish to achieve, there are a large number of different outcomes discussed. This section is very clear and easy to follow and is used by many enthusiasts to make what appears to be a complicated procedure a bit less daunting. After this, propagation and pests and disease are also displayed. Next there is a large section on case histories. This is a very interesting read, and you can follow a number of different bonsai from raw material to styled bonsai, whilst he discusses the reasons for each step. This section has helped me to see how the styling process runs from start to styling, and gives you insight into how potential in raw stock can be seen. The end of the book looks at associated culture such as accent plants and suiseki.
In summary, this book is without doubt my favourite in my collection. I have enjoyed reading it through many times, and despite its age, still gain new knowledge and ideas from it every time I look. It can be found very inexpensively and in my opinion is a must have for any bonsai bookshelf. Have a look yourself though and make your own mind up.
ISBN – 1-85605-079-3
No comments:
Post a Comment