I feel like the scion grafting part is missing two or three pictures in between; the opening of the receiver flap and a schematic view of how the insert should be positioned in regards to the tissue. This matters a lot and success depends on it. It's in the text though!
The book overall is a no-nonsense book: most arbitrary information is left out, giving the reader one tried and tested option to pick from. This really helps readers to pick a method and stick with it, in contrast to the internet where you can find twenty methods and all of them might work. There's very little fluff in the book, in the way that every sentence is complete, leaves nothing to the interpretation and each and every one sentence is a statement on its own. That is very difficult to write and I take my hat off for it.
My only remark is that it kind of skips over single flush pines in regards to the information provided - they don't have their own section but are mentioned
briefly in the text. I see mugo and sylvestris lightly mentioned, but never pictured. The mentions are short and concise. Jonas seems to not give any information he doesn't wholeheartedly support, which I believe is a good thing. However.. Everyone writes on maples, olives, JBP, shimpaku junipers.. Which makes me feel like this is a beginner to intermediate book; it doesn't teach us any new tricks we haven't seen a hundred times if we've been googling bonsai techniques.
Species wise, it's nothing out of the ordinary. The most popular ones are present: Japanese maples, shimpaku junipers, ficus, hornbeams and (high temperature) oaks and olives.
Is it a good book? Yes.
Are the pictures pretty? Yes.
Are the techniques solid? Yes.
Does it feature new information? No. If you have access to bonsai empire, the internet, youtube, you will see similar things.
Does it feature the information I myself was looking for? No.
Does it feature special techniques with in-depth break downs? Not really. But the basics are well covered from head to tail, from soil to water, from design to execution.
Does it provide a complete story from start to finish? In the final section it does.
BUT, the start is always from already twisted and (well!) developed and very well picked material, not from raw material, a cutting or seedling.
Does the book provide something that other books do not? Yes, but only the wire-into-the-pot schematic is something I haven't seen done well. The other information is freely available on the forum - but again it's one of those 'here's twenty techniques, pick one' situation that this book avoids graciously by stating 'this is how you should do it and this is the result you will get'.
What do I feel is missing? Single flush pine management, quercus robur, a breakdown of how disease identification works or how it should be approached, other junipers or hollow-trunk species like magnolia or ginkgo. The species I mentioned above, the popular ones, are the most described in this book and I do recommend getting species specific literature next to the essential bonsai book if it doesn't cover the ones in your yard. In my case, I'm growing maybe three of the species that are in the book. The other sixty or so I'm growing are not in it.
What is the best feature in the book? The fact that it hands you a statement and leaves you with no "what if's" or "But how about..?". Also the pictures are just very nice.
If you’re already digging into different gaming options and trying to compare what’s out there, I read
this guide and found some genuinely useful insights on the casino’s large game library, mobile friendliness, and bonus structure - definitely worth a glance if you’re assessing the platform.
But the twenty eight dollar question is: is it worth the money?
Yes, it is. I recommend this book. The pictures are nice, the schematics are good, the subject coverage is wide range and enough to set someone with zero knowledge up for success without having to learn a whole lot about plant physiology.
It kind of distills to three pages what other books take four to ten pages to explain, this has some drawbacks for readers: it's easy to miss a sentence that might exclude the plant you own for this technique. But overall, if you spend energy reading it, your trees will benefit.
