Bonsai Ramblings - A Review

[Leigh Taafe]

Just finished reading my copy of "Bonsai Ramblings", thought I would post a short review for those who may be interested.

The book arrived on CD in Adobe format. It is 86 pages long and includes colour photos and stories.

The author, Dave, says...."As a regular contributor to bonsai newsletters over many years, I have written numerous articles, instructional, some humerous, as well as tree development profiles and plenty of handy hints. Now seems like the time to share them."

The book starts out with a number of humerous articles, some of which have been written from the perspective of the tree. Thus being informative, and entertaining. One of these articles has been posted here viewtopic.php?f=96&t=584&p=4951&hilit=ramblings#p4951
I found reading these articles provided a refreshing slant on reading other informative bonsai articles, as each tree Dave wrote about took on their own persona.

The next section of the book details a number of tree profiles. One of these articles can be found here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=718 . Dave invites you into his wonderful collection of outstanding bonsai as he details the progression of some brilliant trees that he has created from collected material, small stock, or bonsai that he has restyled. Within this section you will read of uncommon bonsai practices to achieve stunning results on trees such as Banksia, Ficus, Pines, Boug's, Privet, even a great article of a Jade tree written by a guest author. One of the best parts of this section is the full colour photos helping to outline the progression of each tree.

From there, Dave writes a section chock full of "Handy Tips". Tips that he has forumulated through his own experiences. This section has something for everyone, from the beginner, to the "seasoned" artist. The beginner will find the section titled "Tips for the novice enthusiast" invaluable, whilst others will gain benefit from his section on "The collection of raw material". Of particular value is the "Yearly Maintenance Calendar", of course written for those living in a temperate climate, but valuable to any artist using a bit of common sense.

Dave starts the next section of this book with some great pictures of the different styles of bonsai, exquisite bonsai from Dave's collection, accompanied by some brilliant pictures of bonsai Dave saw whilst on a tour of Japan. There are a couple of informative "species guides", a section on grafting, a great article on mini bonsai, pesticides, and pots.

Many who start out in bonsai will avoid working on pines because of a lack of understanding of how to treat them as bonsai. Dave relieves this avoidance with his section "Basic Black Pine Maintenance For Beginners" a very informative introduction to the "King Of Bonsai - The Black Pine".

Capping off a brilliant read is an illustrated journey of Dave's tour of some of Japan's finest bonsai displays.

So, whether you are a "beginner" or an "old timer", I guarantee you will get something from this book. If it is tips and skills, great progression photos with brilliant end results, or just an entertaining read, this book is a great addition to your library.

In summary:

"educational, informative, entertaining, and most importantly, accurate!"

Cheers,
Leigh.

[Dave54]

Crikey Leigh,
glad you enjoyed the read. I couldn't have bought a better review.
"Bonsai Ramblings" CD is available in the BUY AND SELL section on this forum, should anyone be interested.
cheers
Dave

[PeterW]

SOLD........i will definetly add it to mine Leigh, thanks for that.
Peter

[Elias]

"educational, informative, entertaining, and most importantly, accurate!"

Cheers,
Leigh.

Hi,
Just wanted to say I second that opinion, great reading, nice work Dave.

Elias

[Dave54]

Hi Elias,
glad you enjoyed the read. Thanks for the feedback
cheers
Dave

[Matthew]

I've had bonsai ramblings for awhile now in book form and i must say it is definalty worth purchasing. Dave goes into good detail about the various bonsai he has styled in this book, their origin (nursery stock, collected etc), his step by step progress and restlye of various species from fig to olive, privet, elm, japanese black pine, to his banksia you see on the header of this forum just to name a few. Most of the pictures are progression over a number of years which is valuable to beginners to see what methods he has used and how each tree has responded.
His tips on various species is from his trial and error and is again valuable to people who maybe growing a privet or pine for the first time. I have been into bonsai now about 4 years and have tried to read, learn as much as possible in that time. I have various reference material but do find myself going back again to admire his work and get a laugh from some of his stories.
This book may not be a hardcover ,glossy index but what it does have is great information, well laid out articles and pictures, and information actually relavent to most of Austrialia's climate.

[Dave54]

Hi Noah,
I'm really glad to hear that you enjoyed the read and gained some useful information from it.
Thanks for the feedback.
cheers
Dave

[sreeve]

Bonsai Ramblings by Dave Kiernan…...

If you haven't read Dave’s book, then do yourself a favour and get a copy….

Each purchase I make of a Bonsai book, video or magazine is made with trepidation and fear that it will be “more of the same”.

Happily, Dave’s book is written differently to my other Bonsai references.

His unique writing style is humorous and successfully shares personal experiences in a non selfish, non self opinionated way.

I wish I had read his book earlier.

Two months ago I found 4 curl grubs eating the interior of my very large privet!!!!!!!!!!!
Reading Dave’s book would have forewarned me of this risk and I may not have lost a large portion of the exposed deadwood on my tree.

The book is well worth a read and at its low price you really should grab a copy.

Regards
Steve

[Dave54]

Hi Steve,
thanks for the kind words and review, I am glad that you enjoyed the read.
Still plenty of C.D.'s available.
cheers
dave