Bonsai Pruning – How to Prune Bonsai Tree

The trick to bonsai is making a perfect idealized miniature out of a real-species seedling. You will need to work hard through pruning and other advanced techniques to ensure that your tree or bush grows and looks the way that you prefer.

You will need a lot of experience and research to find the right soil preparation, watering, pruning and more. After all, a lot of perfection goes into making the ideal, perfect tree. You will need to work the living art into a masterpiece you are proud to display.

Don’t pull your shears from the garden bag before you look into either gardening software or hand-sketching what you want your tree or bush to look like. Advanced planning through an explicit vision will make all the difference in the long-term future of your project.

Finger pruning is a masterful skill to know. You will need to pinch off the new growth for junipers and cedars (and any other conifers). It is a simple technique in theory. You can support the tree or branch with one hand and then take the new growth between your thumb and forefinger and pinch it, removing it with a sharp twist without pulling the tree or branch. You will need to practice a few times before you are completely comfortable with this technique.

Try finger pruning on a small bush before you attempt to do it on your bonsai to avoid damaging a precious tree. Once you can do this without pulling on the tree, you can turn to your bonsai.

Maples, Chinese Elms and other deciduous trees will need a scissor tip pruning. You can remove the new shoots back based on your previous sketches. Leaf pruning or defoliation will also be necessary for this species of tree or for a ficus bush. You will want to do this type of pruning in the middle of summer, removing roughly half of the leaves with a pair of scissors, but leaving their stems intact.

Pruning is ultimately carried out to give the tree the look you want. Root pruning is another variation that will affect the health of the tree itself. When you trim the leaves and branches, it will also affect the roots in that the roots will need to supply less water and nutrients to the soil. If you have a heavy branch pruning session, you will slow the root system in response.

Roots of your tree should be examined roughly every two years. Depending on the age of the tree, its species and the size of the pot, you will notice that the roots become root bound to the tree. They will curve in the soil and then curve inward once they reach the pot, taking up more and more room.

If you trim the roots with very sharp and precise scissors, you can trim the existing roots back about 2/3rds of their original length, getting rid of the young or older roots entirely. Be sure you don’t over-trim the roots or your tree will suffer as a result.

         

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