Saturday, January 19, 2008

Creating Bonsai Landscapes



Creating Bonsai Landscapes
by Su Chin Ee
ISBN 1580174841 SC pp.127
Published 2003
Quarto publishing

This soft covered book features 18 miniature garden projects. It is well written but the best feature in this book are the detailed plans on how to duplicate these miniature landscapes.

The rocks were all created using a mixture of “wire grids” fiberglass cloth and cement fondue. Another thing that surprised me was the clear explanation on how to proceed from nursery bought stock, to a beautifully designed miniature trees. Having said that, the one thing the book fails to mention is the length of time to produce tree designs required for these landscapes. Because these are miniatures, the developmental period is much reduced. I believe this is a worthwhile purchase; not only will one have beautiful landscapes once completed, one can be occupied in the creation of long term projects, which is fascinating in itself. At the end of the book there is a detailed section on specific trees suitable for miniature landscapes e.g. the proper Var. of Cotoneaster, to name but one.

2 comments:

Peter Plantec said...

I love this exceptional book, but all the rock formations and pots are made with Ciment Fondu. I've been searching for Ciment Fondu in the US for three years and nobody even at masonry supply or hobby or even a La Farge the original maker have even heard of it. After many dozens of phone calls, I'm frustrated. Go ahead google it...everyting but where to get it.

Rick Moquin said...

I hear you. You might want to try Michaels Crafts. They have all sorts of stuff there. Basically fondue is watered down cement from what I have gathered