When do i trim my bonsai

The first step in the design process for any bonsai is to set the structure, this is also known as the initial styling. Knowing how to handle the structure starts with the trunkline, the most primary line in the bonsai design.

This can look like making some big bends to set the shape with a conifer, or executing big pruning decisions on a deciduous tree to regain a grown-out silhouette.

After setting the structure, the tree needs to recover and this takes time. Your main focus should be heavy, proper fertilization to stimulate robust, healthy growth that should will turn into secondary branching. Your mantra here should be grow, grow, grow— let the tree get wild.

Once the structure is set and the tree has regained its health, it is time to turn your attention to building the secondary branches that emerge from the original structure or trunkline. You now get to manipulate, prune, and wire out this overgrown, healthy branching to create your secondary design, enhancing what was brought forth in the initial, structural styling.

At this point, you are continuing to cultivate robust growth and pruning to maintain. You do not pinch during this stage.

After setting an impeccable structure, then building up and styling out those secondary branches, your tree should be pushing out healthy flushes of growth off the secondary branching. At this time, the tree is ready to enter tertiary development. When you are cultivating tertiary ramification, this is the point when you begin pinching to transition energy to the interior. Repeat, you should not pinch your bonsai until you are at a stage of tertiary ramification.

So up until this point with your bonsai, you have been focusing on producing healthy growth via fertilization and balance of water and oxygen, then pruning that growth to establish the secondary branching in your design. You want subtle, thin ramification now, so your fertilization should reflect that. A common cycle that can be easy to fall into but is ill-advised — let the bonsai grow, then prune back exactly what it just pushed out.

These trees prefer humid conditions with the key being of course, in the name! These trees need to be kept in an area of the house which has sunlight exposure and is at a consistent temperature between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius. Like we said earlier, pruning is very important for general maintenance of your plants. Bonsai trees are no different in that respect. You will need to prune the branches, the buds and the leaves of your tree to shape it in the correct way.

Pruning needs to be done to counteract this. You will need to make sure that you remove weeds in the plant as they will be a common growth in your new bonsai tree. Make sure you remove them without upsetting the buds or existing leaves of your tree. You can also pinch the new shoots to allow growth in the bud further back.

Of course, if you are Mr Miyagi, then you would use chopsticks, as he did in Karate Kid 1. You will need to prune a mixture of leaves and buds to decide on the overall shape of the tree canopy. By deciding this you will need to leaves of the shoots that are inconsistent with the overall shape of your tree. You can use twig shears for this and do not worry about disturbing the leaves at the top as this will encourage consistent growth.

Make sure you are cutting discoloured old branches, leaves and dead stubs. You should try to encourage lateral buds and leaves to grow and should try to predict the growth route of your buds and make sure you have left sufficient space for these buds to grow.

Also you will need to make sure that the branches and leaves at the bottom of the plant are not being neglected as they will not receive as much sun exposure as the top of the plant. The ideal pruning season will vary between tree species, but will usually be during the spring and summer when the plant is growing most vigorously. Check online or with a nursery to determine the pruning season for your species. Ensure that the tree has enough time to recover from the pruning.

Remember: pruning any plant creates a wound that leaves the plant open to the risk of infection and requires extra energy to heal. Because bonsai trees must be pruned so often to maintain their shape, it is important that you schedule major trimmings as far away from each other as possible. Determine which branches should be pruned. Trimming a bonsai tree's branches is a matter of controlling the direction of growth. This is done for 2 reasons: for aesthetic interest and for structural stability.

These would include branches that cross each other, those that grow at very sharp angles, and those that grow across the trunk and interrupt its continuous line. For structural reasons, you want to leave branches intact that will increase growth in weak areas.

For example, leave branches in place on thinner areas of the trunk to help thicken it. If the trunk leans heavily in one direction, remove branches in that direction while preserving those in the opposite direction. Trim the bonsai tree's roots accordingly. The above ground and underground portions of your bonsai tree will need to be kept in relative proportion.

Make sure that you occasionally trim back the root system of the tree to prevent it from growing too vigorously. This quick growth can force you to prune more often than you'd like, which can expose the plant to infection and rot. If a plant bleeds white, then the substance being released is latex. This latex is a defense mechanism shared by many plant species. Ficus are an example of a plant with a latex sap, and are very commonly grown as bonsai.

Yes No. Not Helpful 3 Helpful If you decide to trim roots, trim the air roots. Cut them slanted so the plant can receive lots of nutrition and water. Not Helpful 5 Helpful My golden gate tree has some yellow leaves.

I water it once every eight to 10 days. Does it need to be pruned? Am I missing something? I water my bonsai every two days. Not Helpful 10 Helpful Research on the species of your Bonsai and see when it is safe to transplant it.

It varies from species to species.