Nearly every little thing we do in bonsai is a arrange. It’s like volleyball. A dive to bump the ball up. Setting the ball fastidiously close to the online. After which a spike excessive. Besides in bonsai, we keep away from the spike. There’s no ending coup de grâce right here. Simply ongoing bumping and setting.
Right now of yr in lots of temperate areas (apologies Southern Hemisphere readers!) winter continues to be with us. And in winter we will end up our trimming and thinning of dense timber.
Thinning extra development makes house for brand new development. Trimming the extensions retains the tree inside bounds. There’s our bump, set.
If we skip these steps the following development cycle can type a stable foliage mass, bereft of sunshine. Too dense. Then after a yr or two twigs would possibly begin dying.
Two examples of trimming / thinning to create space for brand new development: A Juniper, and a Hinoki. (Earlier than and after with the Juniper, left to proper, and the reverse with the half-finished Hinoki forest.) By the top of the rising season these could be full once more. Smaller, inside shoots could also be pulled off with fingers. Thicker, woodier ones are minimize with scissors.
All space-making thinning assumes we have now a full, dense tree. Hinoki Cypress, Tsukumo Cypress, Black Pine, Juniper, Trident Maple—all of those timber can get too dense. If our tree isn’t dense sufficient, thinning is minimal and organizational.
Trimming extensions then units the plant up for future density—it pushes the plant to diversify its twig portfolio. Trimming prevents legginess. Enhances ramification.
Are you questioning the place the “Nibbling” is available in? Subsequent week. All the strain is in Half II of this thrilling mini-series…
