Page 116 - Ebook cây cảnh Art of Bonsai

116 Creating your own bonsai

Fine-tuning the foliage pads

7 Wire secondary branches
once the main structure is
set. Do not prune off any
tertiary branches at this stage
because the final orientation
may not yet be fixed.

8 Manipulate the branches.
Shape each secondary shoot
in a similar way to the main
branch—left and right, as well
as up and down. Do not
create an unnatural pigtail
effect: the ideal curve allows
the shoot to fan out naturally
on the outside of a bend, or
top of the branch.

9 Prune secondary shoots
coming from the inside of a
curve, or that are growing
downward—but if a branch is
very bare, retain some of the 7 8
better-placed shoots.

10 Leave the remaining
shoots unpruned. It is vital
that the growing tips are left
intact and allowed to grow.
They will be pruned back in
the future but for now they
are needed to power the tree
forward and help it recover
from this transformation.

Over time
• The tiny shoots will grow
out and fill in the space
without needing to be wired.
• The foliage pad may be
pruned and cleaned into a
rough shape; only minor fine
wiring will be necessary.
• On the first styling very
little fine work is done. Once
the major branches are set,
refinement can continue. 9 10