Shaping the Bonsai

 

Before deciding on the shape of your bonsai, study the tree carefully and take into account the natural form of the species. To achieve an impression of age and reality, observe the way mature trees of the same kind grow in their natural setting. Decide on the final shape and size of your bonsai before beginning. Make a rough sketch of what you wish to create, and use it as a guide.

Bonsai are shaped by pruning, wiring and pinching. Pruning and wiring create the tree’s structure by shaping its woody parts, whereas pinching back the long ends of soft foliage helps side buds to develop, making a branch bushier or twiggier (this is called “ramification”). Pruning is less stressful for the tree than wiring, but both are usually necessary to achieve refinement. Pruning should be done with a concave cutter, a special bonsai tool for making sharp cuts without collars (stubs). All but maintenance pruning should be done at the same time of year as root pruning in order to maintain a supply-and-demand balance between foliage and roots.

Deciduous trees can be pruned back quite severely if an equivalent amount of root is removed at the same time. Older evergreens should be pruned back very gradually. Starting at the bottom of the trunk, remove branches that are growing straight up, those that grow inward towards the trunk, and one of two branches that grow opposite one another, after selecting the correct one to keep, usually according to an alternating (side-to-side) arrangement of branches that start near the bottom. Only after wiring should you prune to shorten remaining branches, leaving lower ones longer than upper ones.

Wiring can be done at any time of year, but it is most easily done on deciduous trees in the winter when they have no

leaves. Buy annealed aluminum or copper wire made for use on bonsai, which is much more pliable than regular wire. To make the branches flexible before wiring, do not water the plant the day before you wire it. Begin at the bottom of the tree when wiring and shaping, and work upward. Anchor the end of the wire at the base of the tree by pushing it into the soil.

Use foam pads under the wire to protect the branches. Keep turns

around the branches or trunk about one quarter inch apart, and spiral upward at a 45 degree angle. Do not wire too tightly. If a branch should snap, the ends can be rejoined if not completely broken. Wind some garden tape around the break. If a branch snaps off, prune it back at the first side branch. Wire should not be kept on the plant longer than one growing season. When removing wire, start at the end of the branch and work back carefully.

How To Prune Bonsai Trees

Bonsai trees need training throughout their lives in order to:

1. Maintain the small size of a naturally large tree

2. Give the plant an appearance of age and maturity

Pruning Tools

Pruning instruments should always be sharp and clean because blunt tools will leave a ragged stump, which could easily become a doorway for disease and pests. Heavy pruning cuts should be whittled down to a slight hollow in the trunk or branch in order to encourage the formation of a callous. Large cuts should be painted with protective paint. When pruning a branch, try to make the cut just above a bud that is pointing in the direction you want the branch to grow. If the cut slopes downwards, then the water will run off and the chances of rot will be considerably lessened.

Main branch pruning

Heavy pruning should be carried out in autumn, winter, or early spring, and is the major way of shaping a bonsai tree. The main priorities are to remove any branch that is too low at the front any branch directly opposite another any that creates a so-called cartwheel effect and any that crosses the front or back to the other side of the tree. Hollow out all stumps with a sharp knife .

General Pruning

Throughout the growing season, cut back shoots of maples zelkovas and other broad-leaves to the first or second pair of leaves. Pinch out the tips of juniper shoots . With pines, remove the center “candles” and pinch back the others.

Leaf Cutting

Do this in early summer on deciduous trees that do not flower or fruit. Use sharp scissors to remove half of each leaf on weak branches or trees, but all but the stalk on strong wood. In a few weeks the stalk will drop and new small foliage and shoots will grow.

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