REVIEW: Herbal Bonsai by Richard W. Bender

Markp1964

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Herbal Bonsai: Practicing the Art With Fast-Growing Herbs
by RICHARD W. BENDER
Paperback: 100 pages
Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1st ed edition (August 1996)
Language: English
ISBN: 0811727882
9.1 x 7.3 x 0.3 inches


Late winter can be a tough time for a bonsai hobbyist. There is only so much that can be done with the indoor trees, the outdoor stuff is still outdoors, asleep, so there is time to fill and bonsai seems like the best way to fill it. It is a great time to read up and check out the library, but the only draw back is that if you have been in the hobby very long you have gotten familiar with every book and probably know most of them by heart.

While at the library recently I took a peek in the bonsai section, as I usually do, just to see what’s on the shelf. I found a book I had not run across before, and though I was excited to see a new book, after I had read it I was actually sorry I did. The book is called Herbal Bonsai by Richard W Bender. Subtitled “Practicing the Ancient Art with Fast Growing Herbs”, I was prepared to support Mr. Bender wholeheartedly. His basic premise, that many herbs will make very attractive bonsai is to my mind absolutely correct. As he points out, herbs are widely available and very hardy. They can put up with the adverse conditions otherwise known as bonsai culture and often times thrive while doing it. They often grow much more quickly than true trees so will make convincing bonsai fairly quickly, which is often a large consideration for a first timer styling up their first bonsai. The price of herbal material is often much less than specialized plants produced by bonsai nurseries.

Bender mentions more than once the herbs are not well thought of as bonsai material. That assertion is only partly true. Though not usually mentioned in the same breath as black pine, cryptomeria and Japanese maple, herbs are used as bonsai, and as more than just as an oddity. I will grant him that herbs are not as common in the hobby as they could or should be. When I first brought a myrtle bonsai to our show, another member struggled to identify it and wondered if it was a Kyoto serissa (the leaves are fairly similar) Do a Google image search for topics like “myrtle bonsai”, “thyme bonsai” or “rosemary bonsai” you will get a few hits, and some of the examples might be simple seedling jammed in a pot type bonsai, but there are also some real show stoppers being made with these types of plants.

So where does the book go wrong? Basically it is an example of a good idea and good intentions not always adding up to good results. Bender is an adequate writer but does not always seem to have a good grasp on the nuts and bolts of bonsai or horticulture in general. This short, one hundred page book lightly skims most points a bonsai book should cover. This information has been covered more adeptly and in much better fashion in any number of other books. Even the specific information that Bender would supposedly be expert in, care and training of the various herb species is given short shrift.

The book has surprisingly few illustrations, most of which are photographs of plants that one assumes Bender has trained. Each seems to violate many of the rules about what is “Good” or acceptable bonsai: pots are too large and too deep, foliage is rank and wild and grown into one large mass rather than defined clouds or pads, accent plants , ground coverings and especially decorative rocks are overused extravagantly. They hardly seem like the work of someone who has been in the hobby two decades.

In short, though the subject is an interesting one, this is a book that does it no justice.

Attached Images

herbal_bonsai.jpg (55.3 KB, 9 views)

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AddiesBubbe

This sounds like something that I would really be interested in! I am an avid herb grower and can't believe I hadn't thought about doing this. Rosemary, oregano or thyme would make GREAT bonsai(s)!

Thanks for the info!

AddiesBubbe

Alasdair

Anything woody will work for bonsai. i have seen quite a few rosemary and am working on one myself. It is covered in pale blue flowers at the moment, i'll try and get some pictures. As for non-woody herbs i have seen chive and garlic used for accent plants. I think the only limitation with herbs as bonsai is how long they live. In my climate i would imagine corriander or basil could make good accent plants because they die off completly every year.

Al

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I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on...
Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth