The ancient art of bonsai will be the featured topic for The Garden Club of Newtown this month with a presentation by David Silver at Newtown Meeting House on Tuesday, January 28, beginning at 1 pm.

In his program “Bonsai Fundamentals,” Mr Silver will discuss the principles of bonsai, including training, maintenance, care and display. He will demonstrate how to use nursery stock to create a bonsai, which will be raffled at the end of the lecture.

As a student in Boston, Mr Silver became an avid player of Go, an ancient Japanese game of strategy. As he learned more about the culture of Japan he discovered bonsai and then gardening.

“Bonsai is not an isolated project, it relates to all gardens and the basic principles of good gardening are always the same,” says Mr Silver.

His company, Bantam Bonsai, is a garden design, construction and maintenance business that specializes in Japanese, perennial, rock and water gardens as well as vegetable gardens. A Master Gardener with over 30 years of experience, he has studied with Japanese, Chinese and American bonsai masters.

Mr Silver’s articles on bonsai have appeared in Bonsai Today and The Journal of American Bonsai. He is also a regular contributor to Bird Talk magazine.

Newtown Meeting House is at 31 Main Street in Newtown, at the flagpole. The public is welcome, and there is a guest fee of $5 for non-members.

Registration is not required, but additional information is available by calling 203-512-7320.