How To Prune Chinese Elm Bonsai Tree
Use pruning shears to cut off dead or damaged branches.
How to prune chinese elm bonsai tree. Sharp cuts heal quickly and prevent disease. If the bonsai gets out of shape spring and summer are good times to hard prune the chinese elm is great at budding back. The most simple answer to the question how to prune chinese elm bonsai trees is to let each shoot grow to a couple of inches and then to prune back to the first four leaves. You can prune the roots as you repot the tree but avoid any heavy root pruning.
Hosted by jason chan of eastern leaf. The chinese elm may go into shock if the roots are pruned back too far. These branches can begin to rot on the tree and house fungi and insects that will damage the rest of the tree. After placing the bonsai in its new pot water the soil thoroughly.
In the beginning it had many more legs in a short time we learned how drastically you can prune a chinese elm bonsai. Allow any branches forming from a pruning cut to grow to about 8 inches before attempting to thin them. The leaves are especially small. Keep the bonsai in a shady spot for two to four weeks.
He goes over some basic pruning techniques and discusses things to keep in mind when ramifying the branches on your tree. When pruning please use a very sharp pair of scissors or a pair of bonsai pruning scissors. Many bonsai growers like to expose the long roots as seen in this tree to create the neagari style. Prune away all but the best couple of branches to create an open canopy.
Make a pruning cut. You ll notice that they start off quite small and get progressively bigger as the new shoot grows. In this video jason works on a chinese elm bonsai that he trunk chopped three years ago.