Miniature Japanese Gardens: Beautiful Bonsai Landscape Gardens for Your Home

Japanese gardens don’t have to be large or elaborate to be beautiful.

Bring the tranquility of a classic Japanese garden into any space in your home or office. Miniature Japanese Gardens shows you how to create simple Japanese-style container gardens using inexpensive plants and materials that are available everywhere!

A detailed plan of each garden provides a basic template along with information about plant types and containers. The container itself can be an old pot, ceramic bowl, or just about anything you might have lying around. Such “found” objects lend themselves to the Japanese art of wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfection. Add rocks and other elements to produce Zen-like gardens that enhance any interior.

Step-by-step photos of over 40 different container gardening projectsranging from a kokedama (moss ball) to a miniature bamboo groveand the amazing landscapes in Japan that inspired them will appeal to gardeners, Zen students, and small space enthusiasts alike!

‘If you love the Zen-like quality of bonsai, this book is sure to inspire you to enhance your home, office or outdoor areas with the serenity of Japanese miniature garden design. It’s packed with beautiful illustrations, step-by-step instructions and practical tips on how to design, plant and maintain miniature gardens, using inexpensive plants and materials. Many of the designs pictured throughout the book are accompanied by photographs of the beautiful natural landscapes that inspired their creation.’ Gardening Australia

…this book is a great resource about bonsai plants for both newcomers and those experienced in this art. —Self Taught Japanese blog

…And what, to me, is even more important is that once one has read through these pages, and maybe tried to create a few micro-gardens, one can use one’s favourite images–maybe taken on a trip to Japan–and construct a living memory. —Shakkei, the journal of the Japanese Garden Society of the UK

Miniature Japanese Gardens is perfect for the end of winter and wanting to get your green thumb twitching. The photos are inspiring, and the instructions are clear and simple, too! —Castle View Academy blog

[ Miniature Japanese Gardens] shows you how to create simple Japanese-style container gardens using inexpensive plants and materials that are available everywhere. Diagrams demonstrate how to organize the plants, and step-by-step instructions on how to build and care for your mini gardens. —Desire To Inspire blog

If you love the Zen-like quality of bonsai, this book is sure to inspire you to enhance your home, office or outdoor areas with the serenity of Japanese miniature garden design. —ABC Gardening Australia Magazine, July 2019 Issue

Kenji Kobayashi studied engineering and landscape gardening and design in his native Japan, but it was in Portland, Oregon that he discovered a love for Bonsai and the art of creating miniature landscapes. When he returned to Japan, he became absorbed in the study of Bonsai and created a new style called Keshiki Bonsai (landscape Bonsai). He has exhibited his landscapes widely throughout Japan. He is a teacher, the author of several books including Keshiki Bonsai: The Easy Mode, and the owner of the Tokyo shop Sinajina.