Kyoto 2009 changed my eye.

Before my journey to Japan, I mostly cut trees: correct the shape, make them denser, keep them smaller. In Kyoto in 2009, I saw that Japanese tree care is something else - a master craft that treats the tree as a living being.

Since then, I am not interested in a quick cut. I read the tree, respect its reaction and work with it, not against it. Every cut is a decision for the next years.

Japanese garden in Kyoto with pine, stones and water - inspiration since 2009

Viktor with his wife in Kyoto in 2009 in front of a Japanese garden and Golden Pavilion

Inspiration from Japan

Books that shape my eye.

I do not work from quick templates. These sources help me read form, emptiness, time and the energy of a tree more precisely.

Source 01

Sakuteiki

An old foundation of Japanese garden art: stone placement, sight lines, emptiness and rhythm. Not as a recipe, but as an attitude.

Visions of the Japanese Garden
Jiro Takei & Marc P. Keane View on Amazon

Source 02

Niwaki

A clear book about form, pruning and tree character. It matters because it shows that niwaki is not a hedge, but a tree with line.

Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way
Jake Hobson View on Amazon

Source 03

Japanese Garden Design

It helps to see a garden not as a collection of plants, but as a space built from proportion, path, view and calm.

Structure, proportion and spatial calm
Marc Peter Keane View on Amazon

Source 04

The Art of Setting Stones

Stones teach weight and restraint. The same logic matters in tree work: do not show everything, leave the right things standing.

Material, weight and quiet composition
Marc Peter Keane View on Amazon

Source 05

Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens

Useful for understanding nature image, asymmetry and guided attention in the Japanese garden.

Old principles translated into practice
David A. Slawson View on Amazon

Source 06

Mirei Shigemori

A reminder that tradition is not standstill. Good form respects origin and still stays alive.

Rebel in the Garden: Modern Japanese Landscape Architecture
Christian Tschumi View on Amazon

This is not an academic library. It shows the way of thinking behind my work.

Working with nature's laws.

A tree is not a green mass. It is a living system of crown, trunk, roots, light, water and time. If every bud is cut by a fixed pattern, the result cannot stay strong against nature.

My standard is simple: you should be satisfied not only directly after the work, but also after one, two and three years. The form has to stay honest.

Looking at the roots

Looking at the roots.

As with the foundation of a house, everything starts below ground. The right soil, the right acidity and the right water-air balance are the base of health.

I do not promise miracles above your head. I promise to work correctly and correct mistakes. Follow the recommendations, and the form can stay for years.

Topiary scissors instead of a hedge trimmer.

A hedge trimmer tears. Fibres remain, and the tree reacts as if many small branches were injured. With sharp Japanese topiary scissors I cut cleanly: less damage, faster recovery and full strength for the form.

Free first assessment

Turn an ordinary tree into a remarkable garden form.

Send three photos. I will assess which artistic tree shaping, crown-structure correction or care sequence fits your tree - no quick cuts and no false promises.

Send photo - assess tree form Request callback

From simple cutting to Japanese tree art.