How to Make a Japanese Maple Bonsai

According to the shape of the tree stump, we can make different types of bonsai, such as straight trunk type, slanted trunk type, etc. We can also plant several plants together to make a double trunk type.

Selection of seedlings

When making a double-trunk bonsai, you should choose plants of different heights and sizes as bonsai planting. It is best to have a short plant with thin and drooping branches. It is better to choose seedlings with soil balls.

Tool Preparation

A comfortable workbench at an appropriate height, with pots, soil, strainers, stones, pruning shears, steel wire, aluminum wire, a small saw, and wire cutters. The pots are mainly purple sand pots with similar brown and yellow colors. They do not need to be too deep, because maple trees are afraid of water accumulation. There should be holes in the bottom of the pot to facilitate water seepage. The soil should be prepared with mountain sand, burnt mud and loess in a ratio of 1:1:1, and then configured into nutrient soil. You also need to prepare colored compound fertilizer by mixing charcoal ash, loess and fertilizer together. Now you can put it in the pot.

Basin

Before potting, remove excess soil from the roots so that there is enough space in the pot. Trim off the taproot, lateral roots and long roots that are too long on the soil ball, and bring the two trees together.

The first step in potting is to place a filter over the water-permeable holes at the bottom of the pot. Place a layer of pebbles on top of the strainer. Now you can place the prepared tree into the pot. When putting the tree in the pot, you should look at the front and be able to distinguish the front and back. After placing it, add soil into the pot until it is 2-3 cm high from the mouth of the pot. Do not fill it up to allow for watering. As you add soil, press it down firmly to prevent the tree from moving.

prune

Prune the main branches that are too high, the dense branches in the tree trunk, the weak branches, and the branches that grow too low on the main trunk after the shaping is completed.

modeling

To shape, first wrap the wire around the branches on the main trunk, then bend them in the desired direction. Determine our main branches and the direction of extension. If you feel that the branch extension angle does not achieve the ideal shaping effect, you can use aluminum wire to pull it appropriately. Each main branch must be pulled to the ideal position using aluminum wire and aluminum wire.

Pan Zha

Panza is mainly for small branches. Although the branches are small, they still need to be shaped well so as not to affect the perfection of the overall shape. We need to determine the direction of the areas around the trunk, inside the tree, and some weaker branches on the main branches, and use aluminum wire to wrap and pull them so that they grow in the ideal direction and angle. If the branches are not conducive to shaping, cut them off with pruning shears.

After pruning, the bonsai is completed. Use a rope to tie the two main trunks of the Japanese red maple together. After it is fixed, tie the trunk and pot together to prevent them from moving during transportation. After tying it, water it one last time until water seeps out from the bottom of the basin.

Within 1-2 years, the shape of the Japanese red maple will be basically determined, and then you can remove the steel wire and aluminum wire.