How to Shape your First Japanese Bonsai Tree

Welcome back to Indoor Bonsai for Beginners!

Shaping your first Japanese bonsai tree will require you to have patience with yourself. You will make mistakes - be prepared for that. Remember to keep the image of the tree you would like to produce in your mind at all times. Let's get started!

Remember you will need your BASIC BONSAI TOOLS to get started.

1. Take your bud scissors and trim away at the branches of the tree to create your basic bonsai shape. Just keep snipping your bonsai until you've reached the basic shape that you desire. Use the concave pruner to remove branches at the trunk. Hold our pruner directly perpendicular to your trunk and snip off your branches.

2. Once you've reached the basic shape, using bonsai wire carefully wrap the branches and trunk of your tree to alter it's shape and coax it into the bonsai tree in your mind. Take care not to wrap your tree or branch too tightly as this can hurt the delicate bark and cause unsightly scaring on your tree.

3. Once you are done pruning and wiring your tree, water it well and LEAVE IT ALONE. Avoid the urge to continue to prune it. Your tree needs to rest now to recover from the surgery you just performed upon it. Just keep the soil moist (but not wet) for the next month. Observe your tree and watch how it's healing itself.

That's it! You've created your very first Japanese bonsai! Remember, the odds are that this tree will most likely perish. But, with continued practice, you will home in your skills and create beautiful bonsai trees.