Niwaki: Pruning, Training, and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way

All copies are signed by Jake!

Jake Hobson honed his Japanese pruning techniques while working in a nursery in Osaka, Japan before adapting them in his pruning business in West Sussex, England. His business "Niwaki" introduced me to Japanese pruning tools and and ladders, and he is the largely responsible for me starting Gardener's Kit!

Japanese gardeners have fine-tuned a distinctive set of pruning techniques meant to coax out the essential characters of their garden trees, or "niwaki". In Jake's own words:

"Niwaki means 'garden tree'. Not very exciting, but it implies far more than that. Japanese gardens are landscapes, microcosms of nature, and the trees are all shaped to fit into those landscapes - there's an awful lot of artistry and cultural baggage in there too."

He encourages the reader to venture beyond familiar tree pruning methods to cultivate their very own niwaki, and explains in-depth guidelines for sculpting pines, azaleas, conifers, evergreens, bamboos, and deciduous trees.

He also places Japanese tree pruning in context, discussing what happens “behind the scenes” at Japanese nurseries and describing instances of niwaki in private and public gardens worldwide.

Throughout the text, illustrations complement the detailed instructions, while photographs and anecdotes bring the ideas surrounding niwaki vividly to life.