Bonsai Oasis

Trimming and Pruning

If your bonsai is a nursery plant, you will need to do quite a bit of pruning. Be careful to only remove unwanted limbs and foliage. Any cuts you make should be above a side branch, a bud, or one of the main forks. To encourage your tree to grow up and out, remove any buds that are not on the outside of the trunk. Any stubs should be flush against the stem. Be careful that you do not weaken the main branches by cutting away too far. Remember, the idea is to mimic a mature tree with your bonsai, so it should not be sheared like a hedge. Trim your branches so that they grow away from one another and out into open spaces. Be careful not to prune so many leaves that your plant cannot successfully go through photosynthesis.

For the most part, a bonsai should only need extensive pruning once. After you have created a form with your tree, you should only nip or pinch back your branches to shape it. Nipping and pinching will help you control the growth of your plant. The process of nipping will help to encourage full foliage and shape the tree. Only nip off small spurs on the trunk of the tree to prevent the formation of scars. You will also need to trim and maintain the roots of the tree. It is best if you can balance your tree by allowing one root for every branch, and keeping all of the fibrous roots.  If there are any roots that were damaged during digging, you should remove those. Any surface roots should be left alone. In order to prevent damage to the roots, you should use sharp, sloping cuts when pruning. It is very important to prune your bonsai if you want it to keep its shape and continue to grow. Some of the hardier bonsai trees can withstand heavy pruning with little effect, but other trees may not fare so well, particularly when they are pruned during inappropriate seasons.

It is important to research your particular type of bonsai tree and learn when to prune both old and new growth. For most plants, you will want to prune any new growth in the growing season, helping the tree to hold its shape, but you should hold off on pruning any hard wood, or old growth, until mid-autumn.

Finger pruning is perhaps the most common method of pruning a bonsai tree, particularly evergreen, coniferous trees like cedars and junipers. Any new growth threatening the shape of the bonsai is pinched back in this process, as well as the top of the bonsai to encourage fuller foliage, which helps the bonsai to look more like a mature tree.

You should hold on to the branch with one hand and grip the new growth in your fingers to finger prune, removing the growth with a twisting motion. Finger pruning is much better than using scissors to prune your bonsai. Your foliage will be brown and the tree will take on an unnatural appearance if you opt to use scissors.

However, scissor pruning is the best option for maples, cotoneasters, Chinese elms, and other deciduous trees. You should trim any overenthusiastic shoots back, just beyond the next set of leaves, but avoid trimming foliage this way.

Defoliation, or leaf pruning works for tropical or deciduous bonsai like maples and ficus, helping to remove any unsightly leaves, reduce the size of leaves, and encouraging faster growth in order to gain two seasons worth of growth in only one. It will also mean brighter colors in the fall for maples and other deciduous trees. You should do this in mid-summer, cutting off between sixty and ninety percent of the tree’s leaves, leaving only enough for photosynthesis.

Make your cuts just beyond the leaf with fine, sharp scissors. Keep your plant sufficiently watered and place it in a comfortable climate over the next several weeks. You should only use this pruning method with certain bonsai trees.

Pay careful attention to the aesthetic nature and balance of your tree when you are pruning your tree. Keeping to the traditions of bonsai trees, you should maintain a tree-like or natural shape to your tree.

A bonsai retains it miniature size with proper pruning and trimming. Removing and vigorous growth in the spring is part of this process. In order for your tree to remain healthy, you should take caution to avoid removing all of the tree’s new growth at once. Remember to trim not only the foliage, but the roots as well. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to prune your bonsai tree daily. Pruning at the beginning of spring, the end of summer, and then occasionally at the end of autumn or winter, should be enough. You can wire your tree once you have pruned it to your liking.