Beginning Bonsai. Larry Student

most important tool for making cuts is pruners, which should be sharp and clean. If pruning is a new experience for you, get plenty of practice before beginning to work on your bonsai. For practice, prune outdoor shrubs or branches collected from the woods. If the pruners were a Christmas gift, you can get a lot of useful experience by practicing on a discarded Christmas tree. When you are pruning, keep in mind an image of the tree you desire.

      To remove a branch, place a pair of concave pruners close against the trunk, and make a sharp, flush cut. Do not tear the branch.

      To shorten a branch, make a cut just above the fork of the branch. Whenever it's possible, make the cut toward the back so the cut will not show. When shortening a branch, you can very often choose the direction of new growth that will occur on the branch. If you want the new growth to follow a line on the left of the branch, prune above the bud on that side. Pruning above the bud will allow the bud to "break," resulting in new growth where you want it. Prune as close as possible to avoid leaving an unsightly stub, but do not press so close that you injure the bud. Practice finding the bud and pruning near it without injuring it. As you get used to pruning, you are bound to gain confidence.

      Pruning begins the process of changing a tree in a pretty container into a bonsai. Pruning also makes your tree healthier, allowing light to fall on all its parts. If a dark area is apparent, especially an area that is difficult to see, correct the problem at once, as the area will become weak over time due to lack of light. Wire and reposition branches from dark areas into light areas.

      Severe pruning is usually not done in the fall. To survive the winter, trees store energy and food in their various parts. Do not change that balance by unnecessary pruning. Indoor tropical bonsai, which go through a moderate dormant period, may be pinched and pruned when they send out new growth.

      PINCHING

      Pruning and pinching go hand in hand for the health and beauty of the tree. Pruning is done with scissors and pruners; pinching is done with the fingers.

      Pinching is a natural process, as no plant can support all the foliage it produces. A plant either sheds completely, as deciduous trees do, or sheds the older, inner foliage it produced several years before, as conifers do. By pinching new growth, you nourish older growth, ensure new bud formation, and avoid ending up with branches that are bare except for green tips.

      FIG. 11 This sketch shows a branch as it would appear if you were looking down on it. Notice that the thickest, longest branchlets taper down in size, giving the branch the triangular shape that occurs naturally in many trees. In this sketch, half of the branch has been pruned. That half is now ready for pinching. With your fingers, you would remove all growing tips on the pruned half of the branch, those outside the triangle's left line.

      FIG. 12 This sketch shows half of a tree pruned to expose the best view of the trunk, as well as lower branches that have shed their inner foliage due to age or lack of light or nutrients.

      Pinch new growth as soon as it appears. Do not let it grow and become woody. Deciduous and leafy material should be pinched after two to four new leaves have opened. Always leave some leaves and nodes on each branch. Coniferous new growth pushes out in clusters of needles. Pinch as the clusters start to open. Grasp a cluster with one hand, and pinch about half of it with your fingertips, using a grasp, twist, and pull action. If a branch needs to be longer, do not pinch it until the desired length has developed. Juniperus procumbens nana should be pinched in the spring, when it explodes into new growth. Pines are better left for later, after you have more experience. Pines are not as forgiving as many other species, especially since they do not bud up on old wood.

      Pinching should be ongoing, as new growth will continue to appear as long as the plant lives. Pinching all these growing tips nourishes dormant buds, causing them to start growing. Later, pinch those, and the cycle continues. The development of twigs, twiglets, and lots of side growth results in a fine bonsai.

      By pinching and pruning you control the growth cycle and hence the growth of your bonsai. Once you decide on the height and width of your tree, keep growth and development within your design. Do not allow the tree to grow out of that design.

      WIRING

      In some ways you use wire the way an artist uses a paintbrush. Wire permits you to design the tree you envision, enabling you to create natural, flowing lines as you reposition branches. Branches growing above each other can be wired to allow sunlight to reach both. A gentle curve can be put in the trunk, or the trunk can be straightened.

      Study your tree carefully to determine which parts require wire to achieve the shape you desire. Do not hesitate to use wire. Even at those times when you are unsure whether or not to wire a branch, wire it. The wire can always be removed if it is not needed.

      Different sizes of wire are used on different parts of trees. In general, use 1.5 or 2 mm aluminum-coated wire for branches and branchlets, and 1 mm wire for very thin branchlets. For heavier branches and trunks, use 2.5,3,3.5,4, or 5 mm wire.

      As for length, cut a piece of wire one and a half times the length of the branch to be wired. When applying the wire, do not try to shape the tree, but concentrate on putting the wire on. Wrap the wire with one hand, and support the trunk or branch being wired with the other hand. Both hands should move together up the tree. Later, when you shape the tree, again use both hands, one hand doing the shaping and the other hand supporting the part of the tree being adjusted.