About Us

Bonsai of Brooklyn was founded in 1976 by Paul Graviano.  In 1964, while looking for some houseplants in a local plant shop, he spotted a Dwarf Japanese Juniper bonsai in a five or six inch pot.  He was so fascinated by this tiny miracle that he had to have it.  It would prove to be the most influential purchase of his life.  The next day it was off to the library to find any books available on the subject.  He began to re-pot and shape trees from local nurseries into bonsai trees. His collection grew from there in leaps and bounds. 

Mr. Graviano did some volunteer work at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden where he was fortunate enough to work with the legendary Frank Okamura.  In the early seventies, he began to go to flea markets to sell some of his surplus pieces.  That led to producing bonsai specifically for re-sale.  In the winter of 1975-1976 he decided that this was a road he wanted to explore further, and Bonsai of Brooklyn was born.  Over the years the inventory grew to include over 5,000 pieces of nursery stock, over 1,000 potted bonsai, 4,000 pieces of pottery, over 80 book titles, a full line of bonsai tools, and one of the widest collections of bonsai related accessories around.  In the late '80's Mr. Graviano appeared frequently on the WWOR-TV talk show "9 Broadcast Plaza".  He also hosted a series of educational bonsai programs on Cable TV in the New York area. He taught weekly bonsai classes for years at Bonsai of Brooklyn's storefront and held a forest planting demonstration at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Mr. Graviano is available to answer your bonsai questions 7 days a week between 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM Eastern Time at 917-325-3954.  Since the mid-seventies Bonsai of Brooklyn has been synonymous with quality bonsai and bonsai supplies.  Having shipped thousands of packages since 1977 you can rest assured that your purchase will arrive in perfect condition and your questions will be answered in a knowledgeable, professional manner.