Pruning and Shaping the Branches of an Old Trunk Plum Blossom Bonsai and Pictures of a Freshly Pruned Red Plum Bonsai

Plum blossom bonsai pruning: After a plum blossom bonsai has been shaped and has bloomed for several years, carry out reasonable pruning immediately each early spring, after 80% of the flowers have faded and lost their ornamental value and before the buds sprout, to encourage new branches to bloom and to keep the plum blossom bonsai maintaining and developing its original form, so that its spirit and charm become even better. When pruning, take the whole picture into consideration according to the tree and its form: how many branches to keep, their orientation, how many buds to keep on each branch, and the direction of the bud at the cut. Generally, outward-facing buds are kept.

Generally, old branches are left alone. If renewal is needed to maintain the shape or because old branches are weakening, they may first be thinned out by appropriate thinning or short pruning. Every one-year-old branch must be cut. First remove dead branches, diseased and pest-damaged branches, thin and weak branches, and crossing branches, overlapping branches and water sprouts in unsuitable positions that disrupt the tree form. If some are still too dense, thin out a portion of them as well. When thinning branches, also pay attention to removing upright ones and keeping slanting ones, so that the tree form is clear and the tree's bearing is beautiful. Then carry out heading-back pruning on the remaining branches, to make it easy to produce new branches that will bloom the following year.

Introduction to Plum Blossom Bonsai Care Methods

To cultivate a plum blossom bonsai with both abundant flowers and a graceful tree form, in addition to careful care and management, artistic processing is essential, and the basic methods are pruning and binding.

Pruning of Plum Blossom Bonsai

It is the characteristic of plum blossom flowering that flower buds form on the current year's new growth, so to make it bloom more, it must be pruned in time to form substantial new branches. Each year after the flowers fall in early spring, carry out one major pruning, keeping two or three leaf buds on the one-year-old branches and cutting off the upper part. When the new branches grow to four or five leaves, pinch out the growing tips, keeping only two or three leaves, to form more flowering branches. After repeated pruning and pinching in this way, a natural beautiful tree form can also be formed.

Binding of Plum Blossom Bonsai

The new branches of plum blossom tend to grow naturally upward. To ensure the tree's graceful form, they must be bound with string in time so that they are bent into shape forward and backward, left and right, or up and down according to people's wishes. The shaping of plum blossom strives to be true and natural; for example, for an upward bend, generally no more than three curves are made. When pruning, it is best to combine pruning with binding, so that the plum blossom quickly forms a beautiful, ancient and vigorous posture.

Pruning and Binding of Plum Blossom Bonsai

To cultivate a plum blossom bonsai with both abundant flowers and a graceful tree form, in addition to careful care and management, artistic processing is essential, and the basic methods are pruning and binding.

Pruning: It is the characteristic of plum blossom flowering that flower buds form on the current year's new growth, so to make it bloom more, it must be pruned in time to form substantial new branches. Each year after the flowers fall in early spring, carry out one major pruning, keeping two or three leaf buds on the one-year-old branches and cutting off the upper part. When the new branches grow to four or five leaves, pinch out the growing tips, keeping only two or three leaves, to form more flowering branches. After repeated pruning and pinching in this way, a natural beautiful tree form can also be formed.

Binding: The new branches of plum blossom tend to grow naturally upward. To ensure the tree's graceful form, they must be bound with string in time so that they are bent into shape forward and backward, left and right, or up and down according to people's wishes. The shaping of plum blossom strives to be true and natural; for example, for an upward bend, generally no more than three curves are made. When pruning, it is best to combine pruning with binding, so that the plum blossom quickly forms a beautiful, ancient and vigorous posture.