How to Prune Bonsai? Detailed Guide to the Correct Methods and Techniques

Bonsai pruning generally uses methods such as pinching, leaf pruning, bud removal, thinning, and growing branches with trunk chopping. Pinching means selecting the topmost 2 cm or so of a branch and cutting it off. Bud removal means using your hand to directly pick off newly sprouted buds on the trunk. Leaf pruning means carrying out leaf thinning on plants grown for their ornamental trunks. When thinning, do not cut close to the main trunk; cut at a position of at least 1 cm away.

1. Pinching

Pinching means selecting the topmost 2 cm or so of a branch tip and cutting it off; this can make the plant's growth more robust and at the same time effectively encourage the new buds below to sprout and grow.

2. Bud removal

Bud removal means using your hand to directly pick off newly sprouted buds on the trunk. Especially for plants with a high budding rate, bud removal must be done frequently; if buds are not removed in time, they will consume too many nutrients and will also affect the overall shape.

3. Leaf pruning

Leaf pruning means carrying out leaf thinning on plants grown for their ornamental trunks. After leaf thinning, the trunk can be viewed directly, and it is mostly used on some larger tree stumps. Leaf pruning also requires a highly refined aesthetic eye, otherwise what you prune out will be just a pot of a bare tree with all its leaves gone.

4. Thinning

Thinning allows the plant to get better light and ventilation, and also allows its nutrients to be better supplied to the branches and leaves that need them. But if thinning is done improperly, it cannot be restored; when thinning, do not cut close to the main trunk; cut at a position of at least 1 cm away.

5. Shortening

Shortening is commonly used in shaping; longer branches are cut shorter, but not entirely removed, so as to maintain the shape of the whole tree form, and it can also dwarf plants that have grown too tall, making their trunks more sturdy.

6. Growing branches with trunk chopping

Growing branches with trunk chopping is generally a pruning method that imitates the tree forms of trees in nature; the shape after pruning is no different from a naturally grown tree form. This pruning method is generally carried out in the tree's young stage; when it is at its most robust in the young stage, the trunk is chopped, keeping part of the branches.