The public is welcome to join this lively Kyoto Garden Visual Presentation, both in person and online, sponsored by the East Bay Bonsai Society Wed Feb 11, 7:30pm, Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, CA https://www.eastbaybonsai.org/meetings-and-events/. This slideshow will focus on natural garden design, the role of mentors, and how the two intersect, inside my memoir Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto. Included will be photos of bonsai heroes/masters; Mas Imazumi and Dennis Makishima in their bonsai gardens, photos of the building of Golden State Bonsai Garden Collection, some of Imazumi’s private landscapes, and of course plenty of photos from Kyoto private homes, monasteries and an imperial garden featured in my NYTimes reviewed memoir, Cutting Back where I tell a story of working in one of the most historic landscaping companies of Kyoto, allowing you to enter the gardens with me. Cutting Back is sold on Amazon-Kindle/Book-on-tape, and been translated into Chinese (available Taiwan). News Flash: Cutting Back hard copies have sold out, BUT we will be auctioning off one copy at this show as a fundraiser for EBBS!

Holiday Pruning Class at my local Native Plant Nursery-Free event in honor of the nursery where I purchased most of the plants in my garden! I will demo basics of pruning to show how you can bring light, beauty, and space into your garden this winter. One audience member will hopefully volunteer to work with me—to show how easy this is. My 100% native plant habitat “forest” garden is designed using Japanese Garden design principles, and lots of natural pruning-it is on tour May 2nd 2026 with https://bringingbackthenatives.net. Natural, aesthetic pruning gives us so many more options regarding plant choice, and helps us design our gardens so they feel both wild and calm. Join me for a holiday tradition-pruning and then using cuttings to bring lovely green winter spirits into the home. Oaktown Native Plant Nursery: https://oaktownnursery.com/index.php/contact/ 

Excited to announce I will be teaching Natural Pruning for the Japanese Garden Society of Edinburgh this summer in a lovely Japanese Garden located at Lauriston Castle Edinburgh, c. 1590. During this “hands-on show and tell,” I will be teaching traditional Japanese pruning cuts for Japanese Gardens that look so natural you can’t tell they are pruned. I will demonstrate how to slow down reactive growth, respect “odd-ball” plants, handle with care “elder” trees, and much more. Please contact The Japanese Garden Society at https://jgs.org.uk .

“Plant Marks” Ca Native Plant Landscaping Co. “Brings Naturalistic Landscapes To Your Home,” and is bringing me out to Ventura to teach natural pruning for professionals. Private Event .

Want to take a look at “Plant Marks” gorgeous native landscapes or contact them? Plant Marks

Do you have native plant aesthetic pruning questions? Do you want to learn to prune to a look so natural others can’t tell you’ve pruned plant? You are welcome come by and talk to me in person during one of my Pruning “Pop-up” events at Oaktown Native Plant Nursery  3rd Saturdays Jan-March (1/18th, 2/15th, 3/15th) from noon-2pm where I will answer questions about natural pruning, advise you on how/where to learn pruning , plus I may teach you a few cuts if time. Note: this is not a pruning class but a place to meet and offer LOTS of info. These three free events are a “thank you gift” to Oaktown Native Plant Nursery, wise owners/staff, who let me ask many questions over the years, and supplied me with most of the plants for my 100% native landscape, shown on Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour every few years. To peek into my tiny urban-forest landscape visit my Facebook/Instagram accounts under name “Lesliebuckauthor.”

Want to learn how to prune your native landscape so naturally, no one can tell its been pruned? Meet other native plant enthusiasts? I’m offering an exciting winter in-person “Aesthetic/Natural Pruning” class/demo for the East Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society in the Garden Room of the Orinda Public Library Feb 26 7:30-9:30-just 4 blks from BART (link below). Beginning and experienced pruners welcome. You will learn basic of natural pruning and much more, plus hear a little about garden craftsmen I worked with in Kyoto, who have been passionate about native landscapes over 300 years! Note: This lecture is free, and I will be answering questions only about CA native plants, but hint: these techniques can be transferred to any other plant in your garden. https://ebcnps.org/news/in-person-speaker-program-demonstration-of-natural-pruning-for-native-plants-2025-02/

Do you have native plant aesthetic pruning questions? Do you want to learn to prune to a look so natural others can’t tell you’ve pruned plant? You are welcome come by and talk to me in person during one of my Pruning “Pop-up” events at Oaktown Native Plant Nursery  3rd Saturdays Jan-March (1/18th, 2/15th, 3/15th) from noon-2pm where I will answer questions about natural pruning, advise you on how/where to learn pruning , plus I may teach you a few cuts if time. Note: this is not a pruning class but a place to meet and offer LOTS of info. These three free events are a “thank you gift” to Oaktown Native Plant Nursery, wise owners/staff, who let me ask many questions over the years, and supplied me with most of the plants for my 100% native landscape, shown on Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour every few years. To peek into my tiny urban-forest landscape visit my Facebook/Instagram accounts under name “Lesliebuckauthor.”

Do you have native plant aesthetic pruning questions? Do you want to learn to prune to a look so natural others can’t tell you’ve pruned plant? You are welcome come by and talk to me in person during one of my Pruning “Pop-up” events at Oaktown Native Plant Nursery  3rd Saturdays Jan-March (1/18th, 2/15th, 3/15th) from noon-2pm where I will answer questions about natural pruning, advise you on how/where to learn pruning , plus I may teach you a few cuts if time. Note: this is not a pruning class but a place to meet and offer LOTS of info. These three free events are a “thank you gift” to Oaktown Native Plant Nursery, wise owners/staff, who let me ask many questions over the years, and supplied me with most of the plants for my 100% native landscape, shown on Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour every few years. To peek into my tiny urban-forest landscape visit my Facebook/Instagram accounts under name “Lesliebuckauthor.”

I’m offering a hands-on pruning class at the Cowslip’s Belle Inn of Ashland, Oregon surrounded by beautiful gardens, a Koi pond and waterfall! This Hands-On-Pruning class is reservation only and welcomes beginning to experienced pruners alike. You will learn the basics of natural pruning cuts, discover pruning design hints, and find out why we pruners are the assistant to the plant, rather than stylists. Bring your questions. Leslie will also do a few readings from her memoir “Cutting Back” to fill the Ashland air with a Kyoto breeze. $25 or bring a special “HOLY snack”* to share to get in for free, but must still rsvp. For reservation and more info contact: https://www.acowslipsbelle.com *”Holy snack=Healthy, Organic, Local, or Yummy

Come visit Leslie’s 100% California native garden (and others), designed using Japanese garden principles, May 4th 2024, as part of the Bringing Back The Natives Garden Tour https://www.bringingbackthenatives.net . This Tour is free-donations accepted but reservation necessary. We can say hi in person, and you can see the garden I first wrote about in my Japanese Garden memoir, “Cutting Back!” California native plant, bird, and wildlife specialists will be present to answer your questions, as well as one coyote kids love. To see my native garden throughout many seasons visit my Instagram or Facebook pages: “@Lesliebuckauthor.com”

Leslie will teach hands on aesthetic pruning, with the help of two volunteers, and show how easy it is to learn basics of natural pruning. Contact El Cerrito Garden Club for details about their fascinating monthly lecture series held in the spacious Albany Community Center: http://www.elcerritogardenclub.org/program.html .

This is a private event for the wonderful docents of the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and is listed for their reference. My talk will focus on Japanese garden design principles that influence California gardens, with peeks into Kyoto private home gardens, monastery landscapes, an an Emperor's estate.

Cutting Back allows readers to feel what its like to walk inside the gardens of Japan over the course of three seasons, working alongside traditional garden craftsmen, learning from them how to balance seriousness with humor, and technique with heart. Cutting Back has recently been translated into Chinese and is available on order from your local bookstore, or where ever books are sold. Please contact the https://www.sfbg.org/volunteer for information on how to volunteer or become a docent!

This is a private event for the Kusamura Bonsai Club of Palo Alto and friends. This slideshow will focus on the role of bonsai and bonsai artists in the memoir Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto. Included will be bonsai heroes/masters; Mas Imazumi, Dennis Makishima, Golden State Bonsai Garden, some of Imazumi’s private landscape accounts, and of course plenty of photos from the Japanese gardens of Kyoto featured in NYTimes reviewed, Cutting Back where I tell the story of my travels from California to Kyoto, eventually working in one of the most historic landscaping companies of Kyoto. Cutting back is sold on Amazon, in Chinese (ask) and if you order it from your local bookstore/library, others may also have a chance to discover it. Please visit https://www.kusamurabonsai.org for more information about this lecture.

Join me for a fun and easy virtual hands-on pruning workshop through the Chicago Botanic Garden. This Hands-On-Pruning class welcomes beginning and experienced pruners alike, and it has limited space so rsvp soon-( I also offering private virtual pruning classes!). You will learn basic natural pruning cuts, pruning design tricks and much more. Details on this talk can be found at: https://www.chicagobotanic.org/adult_education/horticulture/aesthetic_pruning_workshop_online . Please remember that this virtual Lecture is being held 1pm Chicago/11am California!

From your home, you will get to visit Kyoto gardens you’d rarely see even if visiting Japan. You will enter private landscapes, serene monasteries, and secret parts of an emperor’s estate. This visual talk is from my garden adventure in a Kyoto Landscape company, Uetoh Zoen, a journey I wrote about in my Kyoto garden memoir, “Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship In The Gardens Of Kyoto” that received New York Times and Kyoto Journal book reviews, in addition to being translated into Chinese. Details on this talk can be found at: https://www.chicagobotanic.org/adult_education/garden_design/secret_gardens_kyoto_online . For more information on how to purchase my garden memoir (fun to read before seeing the lecture so you recognize characters), hear podcast interviews or watch a Japanese garden design video visit my homepage. Please remember that this virtual Lecture is being held 6:30pm Chicago/4:30pm California!

Join me for a virtual walk into the gardens of Kyoto, meeting some of the highest skilled gardeners in the world personally as they study their craft. This Virtual lecture is hosted by the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park as part of the 5th Anniversary Celebration of the Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden in Grand Rapids/Michigan. My talk will allow you to peek into the daily lives of the gardeners working in private homes, monasteries, and an Imperial Palace—the actual scenes that became my NYTimes reviewed garden adventure memoir, “Cutting Back.” Details on this talk can be found at: https://www.meijergardens.org/calendar/virtual-lecture-with-leslie-buck/ . Copies of “Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto,” can be purchased now at the Meijer Gardens Gift Shop. Please remember that this virtual Lecture is being held 6pm Michigan/3pm California!

I’m so excited to present my first ever virtual hands-on pruning workshop through the beautiful and educationally focused Helen Devos Japanese Garden in Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park as part of their special 5th Anniversary Celebration. This fun Hands-On-Pruning class welcomes beginning and experienced pruners, and has limited space so rsvp soon-( I also offering private virtual pruning classes!). You will learn basic natural pruning cuts, pruning design tricks and much more. Details on this talk can be found at: https://www.meijergardens.org/calendar/virtual-class-pruning-workshop/ . Copies of “Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto,” can be purchased at the Meijer Gardens Gift Shop. Please remember that this virtual Workshop is being held 6pm Michigan/3pm California!

This is a presentation for the Happy Valley Garden Club of Lafayette where I will show photos from the gardens of Kyoto I write about in my memoir “Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto” from Spring all the way through Winter. Warm clothing not required but a love of natural gardens a plus. Autographed copies of “Cutting Back” will be sold at the event, in addition to hand-sketched bookplates/bookmarks for yourself/garden-loving friends. Please contact Happy Valley Garden Club of Lafayette for more information.

This is a private event for the East Bay Garden Club and is listed for the benefit of members. This slideshow will focus on natural garden design principles I learned while on my “Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto,” adventure and how to apply some of these ideas to our nature-inspired gardens. Autographed copies of “Cutting Back” will be sold at the event, in addition to hand-sketched bookplates/bookmarks for yourself/garden-loving friends. Please contact East Bay Garden Club for more information.

This slideshow hosted by Delta Informal Gardeners of Brentwood is open to the public, especially those curious about this active club, so join me in a visual tour of Kyoto gardens you’d rarely see in Japan. Through my slides and a few readings from “Cutting Back” you will enter private home landscapes of Kyoto, interact with monks in serene monastery gardens, and hear birds and frogs living in an emperor’s estate—all from the viewpoint of Japanese garden craftsmen who work inside the prestigious Kyoto Landscape company, Uetoh Zoen.

Signed copies of Cutting Back will be available after the tour!

Free and open to the public

To contact DIG: https://www.facebook.com/BrentwoodDIG

A special member’s only event for the Japanese Garden Society UK with hands-on pruning, a reading or two from Cutting Back, and of course, tea.

This event is open only to members of Japanese Garden Society UK

For more information on JGS: website: https://www.jgs.org.uk / inquiries: enquiries@jgs.org.uk

For this RESERVATION ONLY event, I will be demonstrating the basics of pruning maples and doing a reading or two of “Cutting Back.” Bring your shears and you may be the one volunteer hands-on student chosen! Maples are known for their rapid, reactive growth in the SF Bay Area, I like to call them “the teen-agers of the garden.” Come see how to discourage rebellion, and encourage beautiful development in your garden.

Berkeley Horticulture will be selling “Cutting Back” and plenty of Maples after this event, including the Acer “Yuki Nara”, named after my pruning friend who was one of the editors of my memoir, and a good friend! I will be signing copies of “Cutting Back” after 12:30, and will stick around for another hour to answer extra Maple questions (if you bring a lunch snack—long questions will be forthcoming).

Note: To RESERVE FOR THIS EVENT contact: https://berkeleyhort.com 

Did you know that the majority of Japanese gardens are native? That most are not sheared, but highly natural looking? Would you like your garden to have four-season beauty, rather than only Spring flowers? Join me for an delightful visual journey as I show photos from secret gardens of Kyoto. I will read from my best-selling garden memoir, Cutting Back—My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto, for a glimpse of Kyoto craftsmen who are often as obsessed about natives as we are! I’ll also to teach you natural landscaping tricks so your gardens can evoke scenes from wild California nature. 

This event is free and open to the public through the Monterey Chapter of California Native Plant Society!

For more information: https://chapters.cnps.org/montereybay/  

The Merritt College Pruning Club, a volunteer pruning organization (where beginning to advanced pruners can join to learn or teach pruning) is hosting this event at the Cal Sailing Club where we will be pruning two Pines, one small (4’) which is detailed and one larger (12’) which is styled like a waterfall! Join us if you are interested in learning Pine Pruning. We meet with pruning shears and small pruning saws in hand in front of Cal Sailing Club at 124 University Avenue at the Berkeley Marina. Bring lunch and sit on the club house bench at the end of this event and enjoy the view!

This event is free and open to the public. I may have one or two copies of “Cutting Back” on hand, but if you want a previously purchased copy of “Cutting Back” signed then drop by! (for sell at https://www.mrsdalloways.com or where ever books are sold)

For more information on the Merritt College Pruning Club: Merritt College Pruning Club

For more information on the Cal Sailing Club: https://www.cal-sailing.org 

My reading and slideshow for Hoe and Hope Garden Club is a private event. I am referencing here for benefit of members! Please see below for more public events!

Note: Members only event.

I will show images and tell new stories from my New York Time's reviewed memoir: Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto. You will see the garden where an earthquake shook handmade wooden shutters of a Japanese private home which open up to a tea room, meet my garden crew as we clean towering maples of a geishas’ garden, and finally witness the dangerous shearing of ancient shrubs with razor sharp scythes in one of Kyoto’s most famous imperial estates. Join me for this delightful evening of sights and stories from the gardens of Kyoto! Since this slideshow takes place in the En Gallery, come early and see the beautiful Chinese brush paintings of Suemae Lin Willhite—I may even show a few slides of China’s rural nature from my last trip down Yangtze River since Cutting Back has recently been translated into Chinese by Yuan-liou Publishing Co. with delightful illustrations by Shana Chi!

Signed copies of Cutting Back will be available after the tour!

For more information contact Storrier Sterns Japanese Garden: http://japanesegardenpasadena.com 

From your seat in Los Angeles, you will get to take a visual tour of Kyoto gardens you’d rarely see in Japan. You will enter private landscapes, serene monasteries, and parts of an emperor’s estate from the viewpoint of Japanese garden craftsmen who work inside the prestigious Kyoto Landscape company, Uetoh Zoen.

Signed copies of Cutting Back will be available after the tour!

For more information contact The Japan Foundation: https://www.jflalc.org 

Jan 20th (note date change on my appearance page from Feb 17th!)

You will get a peek into my three seasons working with traditional garden craftsmen from one of the oldest landscaping companies in Japan. There will be a slideshow presentation of my daily work routine with the talented and dedicated apprentices from Uetoh Zoen in the gardens of Kyoto (private homes, monasteries and an imperial garden), with some stories about Black Pines similar to the ones in the Friendship Garden of Shoseian.

A delicious bowl of matcha tea in included with this talk with a $20 per person donation.

Signed copies of Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto will be available after the show!

For more information contact Shoseian Tea House: https://shoseianteahouse.com and https://www.facebook.com/friendsofshoseian/ .

A photographic exploration of the gardens in Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto for the Garden Club of Palo Alto

For info: http://www.gardenclubofpaloalto.org

Note: members only event.

See how the Japanese design with local plants to create some of the most natural looking gardens in the world. I will pull from my memoir, Cutting Back—My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto, to illustrate how the Japanese use native plants to evoke the wild Japanese landscape, and also tricks Japanese garden craftsmen use to design with native plants over time. I will present images of Kyoto gardens in historic buildings, monasteries, private homes and an emperor’s villa. http://www.cruzcnps.org 

Free and open to the Public