How to Prune a Osmanthus Bonsai? Detailed Guide to the Latest Pruning Methods
Pruning is one of the main methods for shaping an osmanthus bonsai, and it is also an important means of maintaining the shape. Reasonable pruning measures can not only make the tree shape beautiful, but also improve ventilation and light conditions, reduce pests and diseases, and make the bonsai produce more and denser flowers. Pruning should run through the entire process of making and caring for an osmanthus bonsai.
Why Should an Osmanthus Bonsai Be Pruned?
When pruning, disordered crossing branches, overlapping branches, parallel branches and opposite branches should be adjusted, that is, one of them should be cut off or one section should be thinned out. The remaining branches can grow thick and strong because nutrients are concentrated. When a cultivated branch grows to a suitable thickness, it should then be heavily pruned to shorten it and produce second-section branches. When the second-section branch grows to a suitable thickness, it should be cut back again. Thereafter, the second and fourth sections of branches, and so on, should all be treated in the same way. Generally, two small branches are kept on each section of branch, one long and one short. After years of pruning, the lower part of the branch becomes short, thick and strong, vigorous and powerful, gradually forming the required tree shape.
Pruning of the osmanthus tree body includes measures such as pinching, cutting, thinning and wounding. Pinching means pinching out growing tips and removing leaves. During the growing season, removing the tender tip at the top of a new shoot is called pinching. Pinching can promote axillary bud growth, produce more branches, inhibit height growth, and help make the bonsai shape more beautiful; leaf removal means removing part of the leaves, which can promote the sprouting of new leaves. Cutting means shortening the current year's branches; after shortening, medium and short branches increase and the mother branch thickens. So-called thinning means cutting, and cutting means dense branches, which is beneficial for branch shaping. Thinning means thinning pruning, cutting away overly dense branches from the base, which helps improve ventilation and light conditions and promotes vigorous growth of the remaining branches. Wounding means scoring, ringing, twisting branches, twisting shoot tips and bending branches on osmanthus branches and trunks. This method can be used for osmanthus bonsai grown for flower viewing to promote flowering.
How Should an Osmanthus Bonsai Be Pruned During the Cultivation Period?
The so-called cultivation period refers to the period from after the shaping pruning and planting of the bonsai osmanthus tree to before it is processed into its final form. The length of this period is related to the shaping method. For example, if it is to be processed into a natural large-tree shape, the cultivation period after shaping pruning will be shorter. If the method of accumulating branches and truncating the trunk is used for shaping, the time will be longer. This is because the branches must undergo repeated pruning before they can take shape, and the interval between two prunings may need to be several months or even a year.
For an osmanthus bonsai cultivated from a stump, after shaping pruning, the trunk and main branches have already been determined. What needs further processing and pruning are the secondary branches and the finer tertiary branches. The basic points to master when processing and pruning these branches are: a branch should have a certain degree of bending, and each branch should differ in length and shortness to show beauty.
⟦NL>When pruning branches, attention should also be paid to the bud points from which branches emerge. According to the shaping requirements, first, for axillary buds, keep one of them; second, for alternate buds, decide according to the direction of branch growth; third, for vigorous water sprouts with longer internodes, generally cut them off, and for forked branches, cut off one branch.
How Should an Osmanthus Bonsai Be Pruned During the Ornamental Period?
Pruning during the ornamental period refers to the pruning carried out after the osmanthus bonsai has taken shape in order to maintain the beautiful form of the shaped osmanthus tree. This kind of pruning is long-term and extensive, and must be done carefully.
For an osmanthus bonsai used for flower viewing, heavy pruning should be carried out after the flowers fade, generally leaving only 2 to 3 buds on a branch and cutting the branch short. In spring and summer, new buds growing from branches and trunks that are not needed for the shape should be removed in time. Generally, when a branch grows to 20 cm, and individual branches grow to about 30 cm, the top of the branch should be cut off to control branch length and help flower bud differentiation.
For an osmanthus bonsai used for viewing, pruning can be done in all four seasons, but the best pruning period is still spring before budding, because at this time the temperature is not high and sap flow is not fast.