Bonsai Trim & Pruning Guide
Preparation is needed before you trim or prune your bonsai. It’s a vital step that you should take when you’re potting a new tree for the first time or before you repot an existing bonsai. Every year new growth brings with it unwanted branches that need to be cut back and altered so that the style of your tree is maintained. Commons types of unwanted branches that you’ll want to trim, or even cut off include overlapping, parallel, symmetrical and trunk crossing branches.
You also might want to get yourself a pair of bonsai trimming shears before you begin, however using a similar cutting tool such as garden shears, or a small saw should be sufficient. Whilst it’s helpful to own all the correct bonsai tools, as long as you can access and cut the bonsai’s branches without interfering with other parts of the plant then you should be ok.
If you’re cutting a part of the plant which has a fork between the tree’s branches then it’s a good idea to use a concave branch cutter. This is because when the fork in a bonsai tree is cut, it is highly likely to scar and swell outward when it heals. So cutting slightly into the branch will make the swelling less noticeable and smoother when the healing does occur. If you don’t have a concave branch cutter then just cut out the branch normally with your shears and then carve out the wound a bit more with another tool to prevent the tree from healing itself with an undesirable bulge. If done correctly, the wounds will eventually heal themselves and become unnoticeable as the tree grows.
Selecting the correct branches to prune is another vital skill that requires instruction. When a tree is young it may grow a series of ugly looking branches which may hinder the beauty of your plant. However, the tree is not trying to make itself look beautiful and instead is only trying to grow itself into a healthy plant.
These branches may look ugly but the tree needs to grow these branches. So when you remove this undesirable branch it’s likely that more branches will sprout in the location of where that previous branch was cut. So sometimes it’s a good idea to initially let the undesirable branches grow for a while and then later on remove them once the tree has matured. Not learning to trim and prune these unnecessary branches at a later date is a mistake that many beginner bonsai growers make.
Finally remember to treat any wounds you have created. If left untreated then these wounds are open to infection and bacterial diseases which can kill your plant. You want to use a wood sealant that can be removed easily as the bark on the tree begins to grow back. Apply a thin layer of wound sealant over the wound of the plant and avoid getting any of this sealant on other parts of the plant aside from it’s wound.
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