In this long-awaited book, internationally renowned expert Peter Adams discusses both the specific horticultural needs of Japanese maples as bonsai subjects and illustrates proven techniques for creating and maintaining beautiful specimens.<BR>Chapter 1 contains essential information on potting, watering, feeding, pruning, and pests and diseases, along with an invaluable list of suitable cultivars and their characteristics. Chapter 2 details the techniques of trimming, pruning, wiring, and training used to develop pleasing bonsai structure. Chapter 3 focuses on refinement techniques that can help to rectify minor flaws and maintain the tree's desired form. Chapter 4 concentrates specifically on the techniques used to develop small specimens, or shohin-size bonsai. And chapter 5 presents twenty-three "case studies" of actual trees, with details of their establishment, development, training, and potential future development.<BR>Although aimed at an audience that has some familiarity with bonsai techniques, the book deliberately shows a mix of bonsai at different stages in their training, so that less experienced enthusiasts can gain new ideas and inspiration from trees that are "works in progress." Much more than a mere "how-to" book, Bonsai with Japanese Maples is a forthright attempt to look at bonsai as art objects and to critique and assess them from an artist's perspective.