Bonsai Tree Technique

Bonsai Trees Techniques

As mentioned before, one of the most important elements of growing a Bonsai is its style and its overall design. There are many techniques that can be used in order to give a Bonsai any particular style, and which gardeners choose from in order to bring to life their vision of how they want their Bonsai to look like.

• Leaf trimming: This entails the removal of specific leaves or needles from the trunk and branches of the Bonsai.
• Pruning: This technique is used to take care of all the elements of the Bonsai tree, including trunk, branches and roots of the candidate tree.
• Wiring: This is one of the most important techniques for growing Bonsai, since it is used by the gardener to define the overall form of the Bonsai, as well as to direct the placement of branches and leaves.
• Clamping: Here gardeners use mechanical instruments to further control the shape of all the elements of their Bonsai.
• Defoliation: This technique is used mostly on deciduous species in order to achieve the short term dwarfing of their foliage.
• Deadwood techniques: These are employed only by skillful deciduous gardeners and help the trees achieve a simulated maturity.

Bonsai Trees Tools and Materials

Like most timeless disciplines, the art of growing Bonsai can be accomplished relatively simply, but takes years of practice to truly master. The tools required for it are a perfect example of this, with some people starting their Bonsai experience with no more than just a leaf cutter, while experts and more dedicated individuals sometimes make use of an entire arsenal of tools.

Now, while none of these extremes is common, it is still recommended for anyone interested in this discipline to know about all the available tools out there, so as to make an informed decision about which ones to use. Its is also a great idea to start with the basic tools, and then to acquire more that become necessary to the gardener as he or she gains skill and experience.

The first material that one needs to get in order to start growing Bonsai is the tree specimen itself, followed by a clay pot and a specific type of soil. After those, the most important tools or growing Bonsai are:

• A traditional leaf cutter with a long handle for pruning branches.
• A long shear, for medium sized branches.
• Butterfly shear, for pruning small branches as well as roots.
• A small shear for tree defoliation
• Small and large knob cutter for creating deep, hollow wounds on the Bonsai
• Small concave cutter that helps with the pruning of medium-sized branches.
• Large Bonsai concave cutter to prune large branches.
• Wire cutter.
• Jin tool.
• Rade.
• Root-hook that helps repotting Bonsai trees.
• Copper brush, for trunk cleaning.
• Cocos brush, for cleaning ground surfaces.
• Trunk benders.

Bonsai Tree Style & Shaping

One of the most important ones is that despite being small trees, Bonsai require a lot more care and attention than any “regular” tree. Bonsai in general are smaller, shorter, lighter and far more fragile than any tree, with roots that are around just 25cm long, which pale when compared to the strong meter-long roots that the average tree has.

This size difference has a great impact on a Bonsai’s maturation, nutrition, pest resistance and many other aspects of their biology, all of which in turn makes tending for their long-term health somewhat more difficult than when performing any other gardening task. This is why some special care techniques are necessary for growing a Bonsai. Here are some of them.

• Watering: Watering must be done in regular intervals, but it will be highly dependent on the specific requirements of each Bonsai species.
• Repotting: This must be done at regular intervals as well, and in this case the frequency is dictated by the specific resistance and age of each tree.
• Tools: Use of the appropriate tools when taking care of a Bonsai is essential.
• Soil: Although soil composition is usually the same for the vast majority of Bonsai, some particular species require of specific compositions, so gardeners are advised to learn about this beforehand.
• Indoor survival: As is the case with the soil, some species of Bonsai can easily survive inside a house, but there are some that can’t, which makes it very important for gardeners to learn as much as they can about their specific Bonsai trees.