Detailed explanation of fruit tree bonsai shaping techniques, easily create beautiful bonsai
Fruit tree bonsai has the characteristics of both form and fruit, dazzling and radiant, with ornamental value in all four seasons: delicate flowers in spring, luxuriant branches and leaves in summer, abundant fruit in autumn, and upright and vigorous in winter, full of life's charm. Fruit tree bonsai should have a certain shape and artistic conception. According to fruit tree species and variety characteristics, fruit tree bonsai can be shaped into many forms, such as natural round-headed form, pagoda form, double-branch antler form, three-branch cup form, weeping willow form, dragon-curved form, etc. In tree shape shaping, it must not only be beneficial to potted fruit trees bearing fruit, but also have ornamental value.
The measures usually adopted to promote flowering and dwarfing, and for shaping and pruning, include bud removal, pinching, branch bending, branch curving, ring girdling, retrenchment, branch pulling, etc. Light exposure can also be enhanced by opening the branch angle and thinning out water sprouts, densely growing branches, ineffective branches and other methods, so as to create an ideal shape for fruit tree bonsai. After grafting survives and grows normally, in order to enhance the aged appearance of the bonsai, a grafting knife can be used to carve several curved lines on the trunk.
During the growing season, binding wire can be wrapped around the fruit tree branches to fix the desired tree shape. In addition, drugs can also be used to promote tree dwarfing. For example, during the growth period of fruit tree bonsai (summer), spraying plant growth retardants on the leaves 2 to 3 times, such as paclobutrazol, B9, chlormequat, etc., can make branches thick and strong, internodes shorter, and plants dwarfed.
After the fruit trees mature, in order to increase the ornamental effect, a layer of moss can be spread in the pot to cover the potting soil. Ornamental pieces, stones or small grasses can also be added for decoration according to the shape and implied meaning, and at the same time an appropriate name can be chosen according to one's own preferences and the artistic conception of the bonsai.
[Root shaping methods]
1. Repotting method: Each time the pot is changed, lift the tree's root system upward once, so that the soil surface exceeds the pot surface. As daily watering is done, the root base gradually becomes exposed. Soil on the pot surface can also be gradually removed manually with bamboo skewers, wooden sticks, etc., until the desired exposed effect is achieved.
2. Soil removal method. In order to expose the root base of the tree, the tree can be planted in a deeper pot, with fertile soil placed at the bottom of the pot and river sand or cinders or similar fillers placed in the upper part. According to the characteristic that the root system grows toward fertilizer, guide the root system to grow downward. In this way, the upper filler can be gradually removed downward, causing the root base to gradually become exposed, until all the filler is removed and the root system is exposed and formed.
3. Sleeve method: For some fruit tree bonsai cultivated in shallow pots, in order to ensure the survival rate and expose the root system, tiles, wooden boards and other objects can be used on the pot surface to form a removable sleeve around the shape of the pot, that is, increasing the original height of the pot, and then adding river sand and other fillers into the sleeve. After a certain period, when the removable sleeve is removed, the root base can be exposed above the pot surface.
[Trunk shaping methods]
1. Bending method: When the trunk is relatively thick, in order to prevent breakage, before bending, first wrap the part to be bent with hemp cloth, plastic sheeting and other materials, and then bend it with force. If bending is still difficult, several cuts can be made with a hand saw at the part to be bent, with the cuts reaching 1/2-1/3 of the way into the xylem. Then bend the trunk so that the cuts close, and wrap with plastic sheeting. After bending and shaping, the trunk needs to be tied and fixed with lead wire, hemp rope, etc., and after 3-4 months in the growing season it can heal and take shape.
For trunks only 2-3 cm thick, and when the part to be bent has no scars, twisting the trunk for bending and shaping is mostly carried out in spring before the tree body sprouts. The method is to hold both ends of the part to be bent tightly with both hands, twist forcefully to make the xylem crack, then bend it even into a knot and tie and fix it. After a year, a peculiar and beautiful trunk form can be formed.
2. Trunk truncation method: For collected tree stumps, some have a better stump shape at the base, but the upper trunk and branches are both straight and long, and are not suitable for bending and shaping. In this case, the method of truncating the trunk before spring budding can be used to retain the beautiful stump and crown. After trunk truncation, not only can the direction of the tree shape be adjusted, but the proportion of thickness change from top to bottom can also be increased, forming the morphological skeleton of a natural large tree in a smaller space. According to shaping needs, the wound can also be deliberately enlarged or even torn, thereby cultivating the appearance of an aged ancient tree.
3. Substitution method: For bonsai whose upper part has a better form but whose lower main trunk is relatively thin, tall and straight, there is often the drawback that the base is plain and the top is heavy while the bottom is light. A stone can be attached to the clumsy lower part on the viewing side to conceal ugliness and highlight beauty, make up for emptiness, balance and stabilize the upper and lower parts, increase momentum, and thereby improve ornamental value.
Another method is: carve a longitudinal crack or drill a longitudinal hole through a dead stump with a beautiful posture, insert the main trunk into it, then wrap the outside with cloth strips and tie it firmly. As the main trunk thickens, the inserted part becomes tighter and tighter, and gradually covers the traces of insertion, appearing just like an ancient stump full of posture and vitality. Likewise, inserting the trunk into a stone crevice is also very interesting.
[Branch shaping methods]
Fruit tree bonsai does not require branch processing to be as detailed and strict as foliage-viewing bonsai. The reasons are, first, most current-year branches must undergo winter pruning, and local shaping is carried out through pruning; second, to ensure fruit development, a sufficient number of leaves must be retained, and many tree species bear fruit mostly at the tips of branches, so improper handling will affect fruiting in the current year and the next year; in addition, after fruiting, especially for large-fruited tree species, the fruit often bends or even droops the branches, changing the original form. Therefore, branch shaping in fruit tree bonsai mainly focuses on the layout and form of the main branches according to the needs of shaping. For local small branches, apart from timely handling of those affecting the tree shape, most are treated more roughly in combination with promoting flowering and preserving fruit and maintaining the tree form. Of course, small bonsai require very strict branch processing, because their branches are few and the ornamental requirements are high.
Selection and retention of main branches: The selection and retention of main branches should be subordinate to the needs of the overall shaping. Generally 2-3 are selected and retained, with emphasis on their form, direction, layering and coordination with the whole. They should have clear layers and orderly extension, while avoiding being too numerous, messy, dense and complicated. Parallel branches, crossing branches, reverse branches, upright branches, opposite branches, whorled branches, etc., should all be removed or cut back.
Branch bending is mainly achieved through pruning and wiring. The pruning method mainly uses the directionality of buds to adjust branch direction, and after repeated pruning a vigorous and forceful twisted form is formed. If a larger degree of change is needed, the method of cultivating rear branches and retrenching front branches can be used for pruning.
Wiring commonly uses hard wire (metal wire) and soft wire such as palm fiber or plastic rope. Metal wire wiring is simple and easy, flexing freely, but is a little troublesome when removing. The model of lead wire used should be flexibly controlled according to branch thickness. When wiring, first fix one end of the metal wire at the base or crossing point of the branch or trunk, then wrap it tightly against the bark. When wrapping, the metal wire should be moderately spaced, forming a 45-degree angle with the branch. The direction in which the branch is twisted should be consistent with the direction in which the metal wire is wrapped. Twisting while wrapping makes it less likely to break. After one year of growth, the wrapped branch can have its posture fixed, and the metal wire should be removed in time.
When using palm fiber or plastic rope for wiring, first tie the pulling rope to the lower end of the branch being pulled, slowly bend the branch or trunk to the required angle, then tighten the rope to fix the upper end. The key to operation is choosing the force point well. The branch can first be fixed by hand in the direction and angle required by the design, then the position for tying the lower palm fiber knot can be chosen. Some fruit trees have a relatively large annual growth amount, so the pulling rope needs to be released in time to avoid the rope sinking deep into the xylem from the cortex and causing branch breakage.
The market advantages of cultivating fruit tree bonsai on trees are mainly four: first, it has ornamental value with beautiful shaping and green leaves and red fruit; second, it can improve poor air and fully demonstrate green and organic environmental protection value; third, it has practical value with sweet and fragrant taste and delicate deliciousness; fourth, it has economic value with long lifespan and easy care.
In the early stage of the fruit tree (3-5 years), cultivate shaping branches on auxiliary nourishing branches; in the middle and later stages (after 5 years), cultivate shaping branches on the back of positional branches. According to the degree of influence of these two kinds of shaping branches on surrounding branches, with heavier ones first and lighter ones later, choose suitable positions at their base to grow roots. After roots emerge, wait 10—15 days after the roots turn yellow, cut them off with fruit and put them into a pot, and that is one pot of fruit tree bonsai. In order not to affect the normal growth and fruiting of the fruit tree and to maintain the basic balance between aboveground and underground growth of the fruit tree, each tree takes only two shaping branches per year (crown diameter within 67 cm), and each mu of land takes (37×2) 74 shaping branches (fruit tree bonsai) per year. Each pot of fruit tree bonsai is priced at 500 yuan, yielding 500 yuan×74=37000 yuan. Therefore, fruit tree bonsai has great market promotion potential.