How to prune juniper bonsai

Pruning methods

Juniper is the most suitable material for making bonsai. It is green all year round, has dense branches and small leaves, and is suitable for viewing all year round.

In fact, the Japanese cypress does not need to be pruned repeatedly, and it is not resistant to pruning. When pruning it, you can remove the top part to make the side branches grow better.

In spring, when new branches and leaves grow, they must be pruned in time. Do not allow the branches and leaves to grow freely, which will destroy the compact shape of the tree. When pruning, focus on shortening the tree.

Precautions

1. When pruning new branches, try not to use scissors. You can pinch them directly with your hands. This can prevent the wounds cut with scissors from turning brown, which will greatly reduce its ornamental value.

2. If you want to prune larger branches, you should do it when they are dormant.

In Taiwan and Japan, many plant shaping masters like to add some relatively dry branches to their bonsai shapes. They call these dry branches "Shari trunks". "Shari trunks" is also a very popular practice in Taiwan and Japan. They created the "shari trunk" based on the phenomenon of partial drying and breaking of trees in nature due to some reasons. The bonsai with "shari trunk" has a unique ornamental effect.

Let’s take a look at some master-level cypress works below.