Our History
Our story began in the mid-eighties when COLIN LEWIS began formulating plans to launch 'BONSAI' magazine, the first issue of which rolled off the presses at the end of 1988 and hit doormats across the U.K. in early 1989. The magazine eventually became BONSAI EUROPE which is still running and is probably the best Bonsai magazine available in the world today.
Being an enterprising fellow Colin (an extensively published author on the subject of Bonsai) quickly realised that his new magazine was an excellent promotional vehicle for a mail order business.... Remember this is before the advent of the internet being commonly available. Indeed the first issue of the magazine did not list a single email or web site address.... READERS SERVICES was formed and the first full page advertisement appeared in issue 5 Spring 1990. The business grew quickly and gradually expanded much beyond simply supplying books. Autumn 1995 saw the publication of the first BONSAI MART advertisement which mostly offered books, fertilisers, videos and Mica Pots. The very first Bonsai Mart colour catalogue made an appearance in summer 1996. The business continued to thrive in the hands of Colin and Imelda Lewis until January 2004 when the business changed hands and came under the banner of Kaizen Bonsai. Later that year our online shop was launched and the paper catalogue has now expanded to 20 pages with a new updated issue released every autumn. We are pleased to retain links with Colin, now based in the USA and although he has no part of the business here we value his point of view and exceptional bonsai expertise. He is after all one of the most influential founding fathers of U.K. bonsai.

Graham Potter
Graham Potter first began keeping bonsai in 1990/91. Very quickly he began to gather information along with a great many trees. Since that time he has absorbed influence and great teaching from some of the U.K.'s most talented bonsai artists including David Prescott, Colin Lewis, Marco Invernizzi, Nobuyuki Kajiwara, Bryan Albright, Kevin Willson, John Hanby and many more.
Over the last few years Graham has travelled to every corner of the U.K. teaching and demonstrating bonsai at all levels. In 2006 alone Graham visited The USA, Italy, France and Belgium as well as many parts of England to carry out work for private individuals and Bonsai organisations alike.
Graham's trees have been exhibited at National and International events including the prestigious Ginkgo awards held biannually in Belgium.
Graham has published many articles and is an occasional contributor to Bonsai Europe magazine.
CLICK HERE TO SEE SOME OF GRAHAM'S TREES...

Our Range of Bonsai Products
Our web site offers nearly 600 product lines for the Bonsai hobbyist. We continually search the globe to find great quality products to help you enjoy creating bonsai. We regularly receive shipments from Japan, China, USA and many European countries as well as sourcing many products from at home in the U.K. For instance we carry the largest range of Bonsai Hand Tools found anywhere in the U.K. as well as many exclusive products unique to Kaizen Bonsai.

We also work tirelessly to bring you an unparalleled selection of great quality Bonsai Trees and Raw material as well as Indoor Bonsai. Unlike many other suppliers we do not simply buy from a single source wholesaler. Therefore you can be assured the choice of a wide selection of unique and special Bonsai Trees.

Our Stock Availability
We carry over £250,000 in stock and offer 99% availability of everything 365 days of the year. It really is no use our offering such a huge selection of products if they are rarely in stock. Our stock holding is enormous and our warehouse just keeps filling up. Whilst this costs us a fortune it does ensure that 99 times out of 100 you get your order delivered without items being put on back order. Because we bring products from dozens of countries across the world there will inevitably be times when some items are 'on the water' or winging their way to us. If for any reason an item is out of stock we will let you know promptly and either hold the order for you, offer alternatives or a full refund. Back order items are dispatched completely at our cost....even if we are shipping to the other side of the world. To the best of our knowledge no other online Bonsai specialist carries SO MUCH STOCK. At various times of the year some items seem to be in short supply but here at Kaizen Bonsai Ltd, we negotiate with our suppliers to ensure you get your order even if everyone else has run out of something.

Our Fast Delivery Service
We work 7 days a week, every week all year round so you can expect to receive your order quickly.
Here at Kaizen Bonsai we are passionate about Bonsai. We love our work and we work seven days a week every week of the year. Our company directors haven't been on holiday since 1987!!!!! We despatch parcels 5 days a week and smaller items 6 days a week. Unfortunately delivery companies do not share our passion and don't work on weekends. Experience has led us to only despatched by Royal mail or Parcel Force who take very good care of your order. Problems are very rare and should your parcel go adrift we will let you know and issue a repeat order very quickly. Every day we track our parcels to pre-empt any problems that might be developing. Our aim is to get your order delivered within just a few days.

Our Fantastic Prices
Our company policy is to offer the best value Mail Order Bonsai Supplies. Our reputation has been built on good solid business practice, great service and value for money. Take a look at the early copies of Bonsai Magazine from the late eighties and early nineties and you will find a huge number of bonsai companies advertising....most have now long gone and just a tiny handful survive including Bonsai Mart. "Cheapest" prices and cost cutting are a sure-fire route to failure. It costs a great deal to be able to offer you the range and availability that we at Kaizen Bonsai Ltd do. We have BIG overheads and expenses that conspire to finish us off. Not least is the U.K. government that is actively anti-small business....but I digress. Our company has to make a sustainable profit in order to fuel re-investment and growth for the good of U.K. bonsai and our customers. Bonsai in the U.K. needs help and promotion in order to bring this wonderful hobby to a greater audience. Ultimately the more people are involved the better it will be for us all. Kaizen Bonsai Ltd is not working for 'beer money' nor are we working to simply subsidise our hobby, we employ people and pay fair wages to our staff and you can rest assured that we will be here for a great many years to come.

Our Quality
Every single product is carefully evaluated and tested before we offer it to you. WE STAKE OUR REPUTATION ON OUR QUALITY.
Bear in mind that things are not always what they seem, a cheap product is going to be just that, it's cheap for a reason. All of the products we offer are individually tested and evaluated before we offer them to you. We never buy the cheapest of anything but always seek out the VERY BEST VALUE. Most of the products we offer to you are in daily use on our busy nursery and just as many are in the hands of Europe's top professional Bonsai Masters. Our fertilisers sustain some of the best Bonsai masterpieces in the U.K. and our carving tools are in use in every continent of the world.

Our Guarantee
We absolutely guarantee whatever you buy from us 100% and offer a full refund if you are not delighted with our products or services.
All of our products carry a full money back guarantee if you are not entirely satisfied....that's your legal right as a consumer! Many items carry further manufacturers guarantees even up to a lifetime guarantee on some items. Faulty or damaged items or products ordered incorrectly will all be refunded or replaced. In short....IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY THEN TALK TO US. 100% peace of mind from Kaizen Bonsai Ltd!

Our Easy Payment Options
It costs us a great deal every month to be able to offer you the payment options that we do. We cater for every major credit and debit card on the planet. Also you can pay by PayPal, Cheque, Bankers draft or direct transfer from your bank. Many people have concerns about online payment but rest assured that your information is absolutely 100% cast iron guaranteed secure. Online payments are handled for us by Worldpay. You won't notice the transition from our site to theirs as your online ordering process progresses but you can be absolutely assured that your transaction will remain confidential....in fact we never see your payment details in any way, shape or form. Worldpay handles everything and then sends us a summary of the transaction just to show your order is paid and ready to despatch. Also bear in mind that credit cards are automatically covered against online fraud. We handle a great many telephone orders and in this case we keep your card details locked away and secure until the process is complete and your order is received....at which point your payment details are destroyed. Your card details are NEVER entered onto or stored on any computers or electronic devices whatsoever and our mailing list is maintained on a stand alone computer NOT connected to the internet in any way. Finally Kaizen Bonsai Ltd PROMISE NEVER TO DIVULGE YOUR DETAILS TO ANYONE, ANYWHERE FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER

Our Marketing
Probably the biggest and certainly the most popular Bonsai web site dedicated to Bonsai. Europe's biggest and brightest paper mail order catalogue get a copy received by 10s of thousands of Bonsai Hobbyists across the whole world.
Marketing is a dirty word these days because of some bad practice by some big 'Don't give a s**t' companies who trample all over your personal space. Just recently we received a marketing call from a machine!!!!!!!!!!!! What the hell do these companies think this says about them? Be that as it may the simple fact remains that if you don't know we're here you won't buy from us and then we WON'T be here. Kaizen Bonsai Ltd is a MAIL ORDER Bonsai Supplier. We like mail and we like paper and in spite of the huge cost we will continue to keep this traditional 'friendly' medium of communication alive. We are the only U.K Bonsai Mail Order Specialist to produce a top quality FULL COLOUR paper catalogue every year. This is our shop window and we are very proud of our catalogue. This is mailed to all of our customers once every year so, when you get one hang on to it, unlike many mail order businesses we will NOT be filling up your recycling bin with weekly mailings. To get a copy click here.
Our web site is one of the most popular and regularly visited Specialist Bonsai sites in the WORLD and we constantly seek to improve both the functionality and content of the site. Over the coming months we are planning a huge expansion of the educational and inspirational content. Your thoughts on how we can improve things would be warmly welcomed . Please email info@kaizenbonsai.com

Our Delivery Service
90% of our delivery across the world is handled by just one provider, they appreciate our business and work hard to keep us happy which means keeping YOU happy. But why do we continue to charge delivery? Many Bonsai Mail Order Suppliers offer 'FREE' carriage so why does Kaizen Bonsai Ltd continue to charge a fee for their delivery service? Firstly it is not POSSIBLE to deliver ANYTHING for free no matter where you live. Only a fool would think that anything comes free in today's world. One of a mail order companies biggest overheads is.....quite obviously mailing costs. After the cost of the products we sell and wages our largest expense is the cost of despatching your order. If we were selling a mass market item like....beans we would expect to move millions of tins a year and so we could squeeze our shipping supplier to within an inch of bankruptcy. However Bonsai Supplies do not fall into this category so we have to pay a relatively substantial fee for each order despatched. Kaizen Bonsai Ltd have to re-coup this cost in some way. There are basically three options each with a downside.

1. We absorb the cost of shipping and meet it from our gross profit margin. The downside of this is that on very many products our margin is small and we would be unable to retain these lines. This would also impact upon slower moving items. This explains why so many Online Bonsai Stores only carry the most profitable lines and offer a very limited range. Ultimately this option would reduce our bottom line profits to less than zero and cause a scaling back of our activities, reducing customer choice and service.

2. We 'build in' the cost of shipping by incorporating it into our prices. This is a very popular option employed by many Mail Order Suppliers. But consider for a moment the scope of what we offer for sale. You could buy a pack of Fertiliser Baskets. These cost very little to send and the packaging cost is minimal so here we could add in 30p for second class post. But what if you ordered 10 packs? This order would cost us about £2.00 to mail but you just paid £3.00.
A bag of Akadama costs us £7.00 to mail but then the cost is the same to deliver three bags together. Therefore if we build in £7.00 per bag you end up paying £21.00 for £7.00 worth of shipping cost if you order the multiple. In this 'built in' scenario the more that you buy the more you pay.

3. We work it out and charge you accordingly. We have chosen this option because it seems the fairest and offers the best value for money to you whilst recouping our cost. Firstly this allows us to show you a real no nonsense price for the items you are looking for. Secondly you gain a fair saving by buying more items together because we can send you up to 30Kg of weight in one parcel for just one delivery charge. And thirdly we stay in business.
We do not make a profit on delivery charges, in fact we make a small loss. Bear in mind that we are paying the highest fuel prices in the history of the world. Our suppliers are constantly looking for price increases. Kaizen Bonsai Ltd believe in offering the greatest choice possible to our customers and buying well so we can pass on savings to you. In order to do this we have to be here!

For further information on shipping and delivery options please click here.

Our Environmental Policy
As BONSAI enthusiasts we appreciate nature and are sensitive to the world we all inhabit. Our environmental policy reflects this. We love the planet we all live on and we like to breathe clean air. All of our packaging material is re-used. We obtain our cardboard boxes from a local recycling company and all other materials are sourced locally from companies that would otherwise pass this material into landfill. Whenever possible we try to avoid the use of plastic and polystyrene materials and loose fill. All wood and pallets used in our activities are reused. The materials used to package your order can all be re-cycled easily.
All of our live plants are obtained legally from bonafide suppliers in accordance with U.K. government standards.