Japanese maples by JD Vertrees book review

Any Koi Garden library will have lots of books about Koi.  But a real Koi Garden library will also have a lot of books about the plants that make up the garden as well.  I am not talking about water plants; those are well covered in the pond books.  I am talking about real plants like trees, shrubs, etc.  And any gardener worth his or her salt (well not really salt, but you know what I am getting at…) would have a book about maple trees.  That is because you just cannot have a Japanese garden without maple trees; nope, no sire, Bob; just not possible.  And same goes for Chinese gardens as well….

Ok, so once you agree on the necessity of a book on maple trees, the rest is easy.  What you say?  How can it be easy to find the best book about maple trees in the world?  Why, because there is no question about the best?  It is “Japanese maples, third edition by J. D. Vertrees”.  There is one “best book” about maple trees, hands down, and this is it.  No ifs ands or buts.   It is hands down the best book about Japanese maples.  

Well maybe not the best, there is a fourth edition now available (just out in February this year).  I have the third edition, but I have heard good things about the second edition and Amazon reviews like the fourth edition.  I will report back when I get a chance to review it....

Why are J.D. Vertrees’ books so good?  It is because he was to maples what Gates and Jobs were to PCs.  He was the geek’s geek of all things about Japanese maple and this is his life's work.  And it not just me that think so.  The Washington Post had this to say about his books: ”The ultimate book about the aristocrat of trees ... the only English-language reference devoted to Japanese maples and one of the preeminent texts in the world for the propagation, identification and cultivation of this exceptionally useful plant.”

The Koi Gardener has looked up the maples that inhabit my garden and found great descriptions of both the Inaba Shadare or Dissectum and the always favorable Sango Kaku or Palmatum (Coral Bark maple).  Both of these are hardly “garden” variety maples (Get it?  I love it when a good pun comes together…). 

There are more than 600 descriptions of varieties and 500 photos that will cover all the Japanese maples that any Koi Gardener will encounter make this book a great gift and an indispensible addition to any Koi Gardeners’ library.  Get it or gift it!!!! 

A good read for the weather

One thing that any Koi Garden aficionado will have (in addition to the Koi Garden of course) is a nice collection of books.  While some people (including yours truly) love the internet and use places like this blog to provide them with great information, there is really nothing like leafing through a book dedicated to your Koi Garden fanaticism.  Some of my favorite Koi Garden books made it on to my Holiday Gift guide.  In addition, from time to time I will review other books in more detail.

One of my most favorite books on keeping Koi is “The Tetra Encyclopedia of Koi”  Tetra Press.  This book is one of my “go to” books for any problems or questions I might have about Koi and the gardens that they live in.

This book was printed way back in 1989 but is still relevant.  Each of its 200 pages is full of great information and beautiful photographs of the fish, the ponds and the gardens. 

It consists of two basic sections:

Part one focuses on Practical things about the Koi hobby. 

A brief history of Koi; Koi anatomy; landscaping, pond and filter construction and their effect on the health of the Koi; buying and keeping your Koi, including change of seasons; Koi anatomy and caring for the health of your Koi; and breeding and showing your Koi.  The section about Koi pond and filter construction is especially useful, both to provide needed design considerations but also to open your mind to how beautiful some Koi ponds can be and how well they fit into the rest of the garden, something that is always on the mind of a real Koi Gardener…

The section on health care is very good and the part of the book I use the most.  I have used it so much that the book naturally opens up to this section.  It provides information on symptoms and pictures of all of the diseases that can afflict your fish; how to tell them apart, what is their cause and what to do to combat them.  Some of the fancier drug treatments may have changed over the years but the basic treatments and the diagnosis of the individual diseases themselves have not.  Even now, I use this section as a starting point for any analysis of health problems.  I may eventually go talk with the owners of my favorite Koi store to decide on the best method of treatment, but this section of the book lets me do so with a lot more knowledge.

Part two focuses on all the different Koi varieties. 

It covers fourteen of the main varieties and has informative bits about the subgroups as well.  This area is another where this book shines.  It talks about the history of the variety and how the fish variety evolved.  It also covers the reasons the variety is grouped together and what to look for if you are looking for a particularly good specimen for your Koi Garden.  It teaches you what makes a good verses bad example of that variety from a showing point of view.  It even covers some behavioral differences between the different varieties.  This section will provide you more than you could ever want to know and certainly enough to impress the snobbiest of Koi aficionados at your next Koi show.  And really, who can put a price on that?

Finally two Indexes (a general index and a Koi variety index) and a Glossary complete this book and allow the user to keep track with all the Japanese words and Koi varieties.

Again, this is a great book as a reference or a gift.  I have provided this link  to purchase this book from Amazon. Curl up in the cold weather with a nice tea or coffee and enjoy the book!

Santa Loves Koi Gardens

Every once in a while I come across a product that I just have to report back about.  I have written about our 10 recommended gifts for the Koi Gardener.  This holiday I received a present off that list.  It has allowed me the opportunity to install and try out the product in more detail.  It is a product that really makes Koi Gardening a lot easier.  

I received a La Crosse Technology WS-9029U Wireless Weather Station with Digital Time.  Essentially, it reports both the time and any temperatures of interest to a Koi Gardener; any temperature, both air and water.  Plus it is expandable just by purchasing more remote temperature sensors.  It is the perfect gift for the fanatical Koi Gardener with a penchant for technology.  I have it set up to report on internal house temperature, external air temperature, and the temperature of the water in the pond, all from the convenience of my home.  I could purchase an additional sensor to report on the water temperature of the filter assembly, but really, one water temperature reading for the pond is enough, even for me…

Before you think that this is a technological solution looking for a problem, think about the cold winter days that you can avoid walking out to the pond and measuring the temperature.  The argument becomes even stronger if you have snow and ice covering the pond.  I now look forward to those days, when I can check the temperatures from the warmth of my house….  Plus it will serve as round one in my war with the Raccoons.

Installation is straightforward and easy.  About the only problem is finding the right batteries for both the base station (AA batteries) and remote sensor (AAA batteries)...