Winter Tree Grooming [Bonsai]

in bonsai •  7 years ago 

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These are my shears. This is the first tool I managed to collect in my bonsai arsenal, and it has served me well over the years.

Today in this post I am going to show you the progress I have made in cleaning up one of my bonsai trees.

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This is one of my Pussywillow trees. The image has been stretched slightly, so you can see more closely the details on the branches.

All of last year's growth tips the wood has a shiny smooth surface. The colors are rich brown-green. In some cases, some of last year's growth has died back, and those branches look more wrinkled and gray.

The old-growth areas from past years have an even textured surface and a muscular shape. The bark will always be smooth around the trunk and branches, even forming a smooth curved edge along any scars.

It is still covered in winter mulch, and it has some rough ends that needed to be cleaned up so it will look nice in the Spring.

Most of the work on this tree was made using only my tiny shears. I love using these little scissoring blades, because it is lightweight and small enough to make cuts on fine branches. Notice how narrow the tip of the shears are? That allows me to slide the blade in between clusters of leaves and branches, and only cut the small part I point it to.

Several bonsai experts and novices have picked up my shears with delight, thinking it looks and feels like a child's toy. The blades are not even sharp to the touch. They are crafted well with good steel. The two blades are angled against each other perfectly to make a clean, straight cut every time.

Any branch thinner than a shoelace is easy for my shears to snip through. Anything thick like a pencil needs my concave pruners or a saw to bite through it.

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As I was starting to examine this tree, I was startled to find something moving along its surface with alarming speed. The spider knew it was found, and it instinctively moved in unpredictable ways to fool my predatory senses.

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In this photo above, I circled the areas where I felt like too many branches were close together. Pussywillow does a good job of growing buds for new branches in alternating designs along the branches. Very rarely do three or more branches sprout from the same intersection. Instead, I searched for locations where these alternating branches were too close together where they join. Especially on the primary branches, I want to have a good amount of space between each of the secondary branches. Having a sudden cluster of thickly competing branches in one spot would not match the characteristics of the rest of the tree. In the places I circled, I will be selecting smaller branches to remove to open up some negative/empty space.

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Meow!

Who is this? Either one of the neighbor's cats, or a stray that lives happily in our neighborhood.

This little fella wanted some attention, and spooked me a bit by emerging from under the deck and brushing up under my leg while I was making some detailed cuts.

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It didn't really want to pose for the camera. We'll have to work on the modelling skills.

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... or my camera abilities.

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This is the finished version of the tree.

All of the dead branch ends are gone. More even spaces between the secondary branches.

Also I shortened the main branch on the left side a little bit, and removed some of the downward facing buds and branches. Leaves are going to look much better fanning out over the tops of these branch tops.

Once this tree starts forming the next couple generations of tiny branches growing from the secondary branches, it is going to look much more developed. Imagine a broccoli-like distribution of branches clustering into smaller and smaller branch clusters. This branch design is what we refer to as ramification in bonsai. It might be five to ten more years before this tree has enough ramification to start looking more like a finished tree and less like a stick with forked branches.

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One our last snow day, I shot this photo of the Ornamental Pear tree in our yard. Even though it tends to grow long whips, it also has several interesting branch ends that form short branch clusters covered with buds. When this tree blooms, those will be the most densely blooming branches.

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Pussywillows do not form flowers, but they do make the most elegant buds of all trees. The buds on a Pussywillow are called catkins when they open, and they are soft like a cat's downy fur. So I think it would be a good goal if I can make it form tight bud clusters similar to what the Pear tree above has.


Thanks for checking out my post today. Tomorrow I'll be sharing some refinements on a Curly Willow, so be on the look out if you enjoy these types of posts.

Everyone is welcome to share in the comments below.

Have a great day!

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Looks awesome and cleaner after pruning. I need to prune some of my bonsai soon so it can look cleaner like yours!:)

Be careful if you prune your lovely juniper. To keep thick growth, use your fingers (wear gloves) to twist the ends off. It heals better than cutting. Do not prune all the way down to the branch connection, unless you want it permanently gone. It will never bud there again.

Thanks for the advice!

I won't do hard pruning, just maybe one or 2 small branches and some ends to thicken the trunk.

Powerful tiny tool! It looks like it is really ergonomic for bonsai pruning. I've been thinking... when you plan the final cuts is it something you've been learning through several expert lessons or rules, is it something more instinctive, or is there like a simple formula for selecting the correct cuts for let's say, thinking 10 years ahead? I noticed kind of all three answers on your last posts also. I'm thinking is something you've been getting better at with the due time learning and practicing!

When you mark the branches you're going to prune it looks as if you really have taken the time to think about where are those branches going to be at a very long term, or not. I also remember you writing that you would think of bonsai in that way, a tree that is going to show its earlier prunes as its final form many years later. That is what really amazes me about bonsai growers. It's more of a calculated way of growing a plant, and I think of it as when you pay for your newborn son's college bills! But this time you're both the dean/president(?) and the father. I know (I know), it's not the best I can come up to, but it's a fair comparison if you ask me! Cheers and have a great weekend.

Thanks, I don't mind answering that question at all. In fact I'm flattered that you put so many dots together in my own thought process. I'm not thinking about my cuts like a chess-master at all, although I'm hoping that some of the strategies I choose help for the long term.

I try to limit my choices to keep things simple yes or no decisions along every branch.

  1. Dead branch? Yes? Cut it back to a living branch. No? Leave it alone.

  2. More than two branches joining together? Yes? Remove one. No? Leave it alone.

  3. Branch growing in an awkward direction (inward, crossing, under, long-straight out)? Yes, shorten/remove. No? Leave it alone.

  4. Do I have a strong personal preference to change the shape of the tree? Yes? Change the angle, or shorten the branch, or remove the branch if the tree is strong enough without it. No? Enjoy the tree for what it is.

So I sort of follow an order of operations. On my Willow trees, I only followed item 1, and skipped everything else because there was already so much removed from the dead wood. On my Hawthorne and Maple, I had to follow item 1, then item 2, and maybe one choice on item 3.

As much as possible, I try not to let my own bias be a primary decision on how the tree should look. I get some of the other experts in my club making suggestions to change the design, but I think it is very subjective, and I might not like what they like. They could be full of hot air with their ideas. My ideas might be foolish if I changed the design of the tree to match what I like, but it sets the tree up for a bad future design. I might not realize that a single cut to make the tree into something I prefer could forever cut off its potential for something better in the future.

So right now, I'm just practicing fundamental clean-up pruning by removing only the things that generally all bonsai experts would agree should be removed. Although some people might prefer to keep the dead wood, and carve it, and stain it. There will always be people to disagree.

Pruning, potting, wiring, and defoliating is about the extent of my skills right now, and simple pruning is the skill I need to practice the most. I have no skill in anything beyond that yet.

I think I understood everything plus a little more, thanks! I know, some people are probably going to prefer to stick to their straight theory or given advice. Yet I prefer and in your case I would encourage the way you're training and leading your practice. We can be both obsessive or patient, but you said something very important, and that is to keep your decisions simple enough so a yes or a no can be a better choice, even for the tree. They're also living beings, so, I'm guessing they are already dancing with you in a way, and appropiate enough to say, they (trees) are showing you their response, It's just up to you to keep doing your work.

That is a good set of skills if one wants to get into some gardening. I probably haven't that much of skills on branch pruning and planning a tree's future "look", but I can tell you are aware of your decisions and their results in a short or long term! Potting, wiring and defoliating are for sure big subjects if let's say I would have wanted to learn about not only bonsai, but a plant's growth. That gives you a sort of muscle memory around your practice, and I definitely think you're getting an amazing job done with these little fellas. It shows! Even when keeping it simple, you know a lot, and have learned by wanting to in the first place, I think that is impressive as well. I'm hoping to keep learning and I'm more than happy to be able to learn by your way, even though it can be very subjective, our objective remains intact: the passion for nature, cheers!!

wow!!! very grateful to find your steemit channel!! bonsai has always fascinated me but i have been unsuccessful. i look forward to learning much here. thank you!!!

Thanks for sharing the enthusiasm.

The tree is amazing amazing and has a very nice branch, hopefully blossom my friend, i can only uovote and resteem @creativetruth and i will always follow you faithfully.

Bonsai tree is my favorite tree. I painting 2 bonsai tree.

tool suitable for cutting grass

Definitely. Sometimes I use it for thinning seedling too.

of friends, simple tools, success for you friend

bonsai is a amazing and beautiful tree.. i like the tree very much.. i appreciate your post.. thanks for sharing

This great bonsai, I appreciate this tree. and awesome looking this snow

well it look good .. i like this

I'd love to take into that hobby one day, it really looks peaceful :)