Page 116 - Tài liệu cây cảnh Bonsai4me Bonsai Basics

Unfortunately for bonsai enthusiasts, unless something is done to halt the

apical tendency of their trees; the inner and lower branches become bare, with
pads of foliage concentrated at the tips. Lower branches will lose vigour and
eventually die at the expense of the more vigorous upper-branches. As
importantly, a well developed bonsai will exhibit branches that are thickest at the
base of the tree, with the branches becoming thinner and more refined as the eye
travels up the trunk to the apex. If apical dominance is not countered, the upper
branches quickly thicken up as a direct result of their vigour and become out of
scale with the weaker lower branches.

Bonsai requiring pruning to balance apical-growth

The pruning required to counteract apical-growth

The outline of the bonsai after pruning
Using these 3 basic outlines of a bonsai, it is possible to see both the effects