The Art of Creative Pruning: Inventive Ideas for Training and Shaping Trees and Shrubs

Pay with

About The Art Of Creative Pruning: Inventive Ideas For

Product Description Nothing brings a touch of artistry to the garden like ornamental pruning, and a series of deliberate cuts can create landscapes and evoke faraway places. All that's needed to recreate the effect in the garden are a sharp pair of pruners, some imagination, and the instruction found in The Art of Creative Pruning. Drawing on both eastern and western styles, author Jake Hobson moves beyond the traditional lollipops and animals and teaches a wholly new approach to ornamental pruning that appeals to modern sensibilities. Picture boxwoods trimmed into whimsical Russian nesting dolls, hedges inscribed with words, and a tree snipped to resemble the toppling tiers of a wedding cake. These are just a few of the unusual ideas featured in the beautifully photographed pages. All the practical considerations are here as well, including pruning to improve a view, remedial pruning to fix problems, and pruning fruit trees to increase yield. From Booklist *Starred Review* Imaginative pruning and shaping of living plants can create landscapes, evoke far off places and memories, . . . surprise and even shock, with interconnected species resulting not in defined categories but rather a family tree, or a map of a river system of endless tributaries, flood plains . . . or . . . some vast web of interconnected strands. In smoothly flowing, evocative text, Hobson introduces recent approaches to topiary, ranging from an amateur’s gravity-free South Carolina garden to the professionally developed, extraordinary topiary in the French Marqueyssac Garden, captured poetically in the early morning fog. Deciduous hedges segue from screens to architecture: arches forming gateways, buttresses creating seating bays, crenellated battlements defining fortifications, and sophisticated, bare-trunked, raised hedges elegantly lining a garden thoroughfare. Hobson presents examples of Asian aesthetics that involved microcosms of nature created without removing plants from their natural state, as with Western pruning, but instead manipulating and enhancing that natural state. A love affair with living sculpture, this coffee-table book exceeds expectations with how-to diagrams, tips on maintenance and tools, and a list of references accompanying genuinely breathtaking full-color photos. --Whitney Scott Review “This coffee table book exceeds expectations.” — Booklist “Written with passion, verve, and a dash of dry wit, this title will inspire any gardener who wants to understand the how and why of creative pruning before picking up the shears and hacking off branches.” — Library Journal   “A wonderful new book that takes a fun, creative, and interesting look at the world of pruning.” — American Gardener “The book goes beyond topiary.” — Akron Beacon Journal   “Well-clipped topiary comes into its own.” — Oxford Times “The book is lovely as well as thought-provoking.” — Pittsburgh Post Gazette   “For fabulous ideas and late-winter inspiration, especially as we venture into our gardens wielding shears and pole pruners, Hobson’s book is just the ticket.” — Connecticut Horticultural Society Newsletter   About the Author Jake Hobson draws upon years of experience with Japanese gardens and landscaping. He spent a year at a nursery in Osaka, and in 2004 started his own business—Niwaki, which distributes Japanese garden tools. A keen observer of the artistry of gardens, Hobson recieved his bachelor's degree in sculpture. He lives in the UK. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Preface: On Rock and Roll, Pruning and Love I once read an article about the musician Lou Reed, who was looking back on his Velvet Underground days. I remember reading that he still gets a buzz every time he turns on his amplifier and feels the hum of electricity flow through his guitar. This made quite an impression on me—since the beginning of his musical career, Lou has probably turned on his amp most days, and it was inspiring