Winter Jasmine Bonsai: How to Make One and a Look at the Latest Pictures
Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) has slender, pliable branches, a well-developed root system, strong sprouting ability and tolerance for pruning, with golden flowers and green calyxes that are bright and eye-catching, making it excellent bonsai material. Today we will take you through winter jasmine bonsai pictures and introduce how to make a winter jasmine bonsai.
The material for making a winter jasmine bonsai is mainly artificially cultivated stock and thick old stumps dug up in the wild, since it tolerates pruning and has strong sprouting ability. Heavy pruning can be used: after the plant grows to about 0.3 m or reaches a certain design requirement, cut off the terminal bud to cultivate a certain crown. Or through shaping and pruning, remove the basal buds at the roots at any time to encourage more branching and flowering. When digging in the wild, focus on preserving the roots, keep the root system as intact as possible, remove damaged and dead roots, straighten out the roots, plant them deep in the pot, and gradually carry out root exposure.
The method for exposing the roots of a winter jasmine bonsai is to fill the lower half of the pot with nutrient soil and then add fine sandy soil to the upper half. When planting, first bury the entire root system in the pot, then firm it down, water it thoroughly, and carry out careful management.
After a period of cultivation, the root system develops normally, fibrous roots grow in the potting soil, and the plant is already deep-rooted and leafy. At this point the fine sandy soil can gradually be removed so that the upper roots are slowly exposed. After another period of cultivation, the exposed roots have gradually aged and the lateral roots are fairly thick and strong, and at this stage the plant can be moved into a shallow pot. When transplanting, fully protect the roots and bring the original potting soil along. In this way, a winter jasmine bonsai with exposed, claw-like roots and an antique, vigorous look can gradually be developed.
The branches should be heavily pruned; apart from the selected branches to keep, all the rest should be removed entirely. The retained branches should also be cut back, and according to the growth characteristics of winter jasmine, they can be trained into cascade-style or semi-cascade-style bonsai.
Some old-stump bonsai have aged, crooked trunks and branches, roots exposed in claw form at the base, long trailing branches and golden flowers with green calyxes, announcing spring early and possessing a distinctive charm. Winter jasmine branches can also be wired to form circular, semicircular, fan-shaped and other forms. Sometimes, to make winter jasmine branches grow upward, a bamboo pole can be inserted beside them and the short branches tied to the pole to support their upward growth. At the same time, the sprouts at the base should be removed at any time. After they grow to a certain height, the top is then removed to set the trunk, so that a drooping, arching crown can be formed.