Beginners Guide to Bonsai Shaping

Would you say that looks like a well we Like to think that you can make bonsai From aging all these plants here Including this silver bird seedling can Be made on don’t worry Anything can be created as long as it Has a new trunk so let’s deal with it This is a Japanese launch when it’s Blown vigorously they get these very Bushy leaves it’s a deciduous conifer by The way but as they get older and they Are kept in the pot for all time they Get these beautiful rosettes which is Just like a party the Japanese and Chinese called a large a deciduous kind Or drop leaf pine these little seedlings By the way they are seedlings they’re Silverbird seedlings if you put it in a Little bonsai pot I can guarantee you You’ll make a beautiful little on sight So don’t waste anything this hour I used To start when I started my hobby things Like that so remind me so let’s as plans Go when new shoots come the old shoots Die off for that nowadays most of the Shaping is done by words in the olden Days the Chinese used to make bonsai Using a method which they called cutting Home and in cutting draw what they did Was simply create these shapes by Cutting at the point they want the tree To grow supposing I want to treat to Have a bend this way so I cut everything Off there the tree will grow there

If I want to shoot back this way I put It out there and just shoot back that Because these curly and angular shapes And Banzai are what makes the Banzai Look distinctive but ever since war Started coming into use which is I would Say less than having a hundred years ago People have not used the cutting room Method very much on door in China there Is a school that does use the cut and Grow method is called a ling Lyle school And in that style of bonsai the trees Are grown in that angular fashion so That’s distinctive of that style but by And large today most people do the Bonsai with wires they shaped of trees With wires and why we use most commonly With aluminium wire back in the Seventies and even in the early 80s when We were just getting serious and bonsai We couldn’t get bonsai 101 imported Bonsai why it was a luxury so all we Ever used was coat hanger wire the Insides of electric cables overhead Transmission wires for big trees so That’s the why we use but ever since Bonsai one came into use what’s easy Assuming you use the right grid of wire You can bend the tree into any shape you Will notice that we have different Grades of our this is aluminium one Which is coated brown or hammered iced Because most trees have a brown trunk so It blends with the thing you can use

Clear why you can use copper wire you Can see steel wire iron wire but how you Minimize the easier to use for bonsai You’ve got to use the right grade How do you know it’s the right grade I Think there is something we call common Sense if I wanted to bend that trunk I’m Not going to use a thin wire like that No way will that bend it common sense Tells you it won’t bend it I don’t need To use something as thick as a pencil Because that would be a stick of the Trunk but something in between also There’s no hard and fast rule as to what Gauge Y will Then what thickness trunk because Different species will have different Flexibility and pliability the older the Tree the more rigid it becomes and it’s Hard to bend the new tree is probably Harder to bend and a large and so it Goes on certain trees are very difficult To man and can snap like the maples are Very brittle So we bend it very very little or we Bend it when it’s very young okay so we Use the correct gauge wire and once you Put the wire on what we’re trying to Create is that issue Someone Halliburton has Chinese out can I just have the Chinese that’s shaped What we call the S shape or the informal Approach shape this curly shape is Largely created by wiring although there

Are other medicines like sticking it in The ground and then wrapping around a Bamboo pole you can do it that way but The more common way is to wire with y so Assuming you use the right grade of wire You can create that shape we are going To make what is called the S shape and The S shape is not just a flat test it’s A three dimensional s so you think of a Coil of wire and opening the coil of Wire out that is really an issue so that Is the shape we are trying to create not Just flat so to make that think of Stirring a pot that’s the action you Make like that just tear apart one piece Of wire would create actually one piece Of wire how simple is that Not difficult so that is what you do if I want to use that branch I will but That is the shape I get with just that Front being one now although it came out Of the pot at that angle I think it looks better if it spotted at This angle so we position it like this If I use this branch I don’t know I Could use it as a sacrificial to take in That but I won’t confuse your complicate Matters now let’s just wire these now When it comes to wiring the branches we Find similar thickness branches to wire With one piece of wire so we have a Thing called the – Braun’s principle where we use one Piece of wire to wire two branches

Together now please try and remember This because it is absolutely Fundamental to wiring bonsai although I Tell people to do it during the class Someone will invariably go back to their Old habits of wiring each branch on its Own there’s nothing wrong with wiring Supposing I want to wire this branch I Could easily wrap it around the trunk And take it out to that branch but if You keep doing it the trunk will get Congested with water and it will become Very untidy whereas if you use one piece Of wire to use to do the two branches You get a very neat appearance so you Get a better looking tree tidier tree so This is the essence of the true branch Principle as I’m using wire cutters to Cut it and then the next pair is that One or I could even do supposing I Didn’t want to go up the trunk I can Wire an existing branch so the existing Branch is this one I’ll show you what I Mean and then hook it to this branch so I’m still using the true branch Principle although this branch has Already been watched so you if you get Three branches you can still use this Principle then the next one will be These two and so it goes on let me just Finish it I remember back in the 80s Some of you may be old enough to Remember a programme on BBC called Pebble Mill at one this was a lunchtime

Like a magazine programme and part of it They have a bit of gardening and a chap Called Peter Seabrook used to Do it and the corresponds I was quite a Novel thing in those days I did quite a Lot of his programs I must have gone up About three four times and when I told Him that we can produce these lodges in Three minutes he says that’s an ideal Time for television so I actually Produced these lodges in three minutes So this is how long it should take you Because I’m talking so much it’s taking Longer but if I set myself to three Minutes I could well do it Within three minutes so it just shows You I’m not trying to be very clever Anything but it shows you it’s not Difficult if you go to commercial Nurseries in China and Japan a lot of This work is done by women and you would See that they can produce this literally In three minutes or less so that’s how Long it should take you so the point I’m Trying to make is that it’s not Difficult it’s not difficult how Difficult is this one piece of wire to Do the trunk and a few watch maybe four Four wires to do the branches there you Are and now all I need to do is put it In a bonsai pot and I’ve got three that Look quite quite different from what it Started off with so if you’ve never worn Before I would suggest that you actually

Practice this dessert English you can Use the same principle makes it Beautiful little tree you’ll get Confidence just from wire so go ahead Always cut wire with the wire cutters Which look like this do any of you Cossack returns These are called fur coats with circuit Test and the fur coat secretaries have a Little notch here can you see that not Cell that can cut wire but don’t cut With that although you can cut it it Would block the bling so if you’re using Fur coats you can cut it down but block With the blade There are few tools if you want to buy Tools you could buy some tools and do The class with them because if you Haven’t got tools I can mention that There are really only one tools you Really need is with your pair cut tuning Scissors you can buy cheap Chinese ones I think 10 pound it so cheap and Cheerful is not always the best then There are better quality ones made in Japan which are like 39 pounds these Long handle ones are very good they’re Tricksters they could do the same thing Therefore pouring the ends of shoots you See they’re called tricks yes so this is As I say the most useful tool you can Buy if you’ve seen me on my youtube Videos I prefer this because I like the Grip of the thing this is the same thing

These two do the same job so this is the Most essential to all the other ones Like the rates you can add to it you can Improvise but the scissors you can’t get Away with if you got secateurs at home That’s quite good So rake is very useful because we tease The roots when you come to putting up One such as you could use electric Pliers but the Japanese or the proper Bonsai wire cutters are quite unique They do a very special job and the Action is quite different from any other Tool so they are so much for about the Tools that yeah I think after being Repotted the tent the roots probably a Bit tender it’s a start water to feed Now might like do the more homely career Growth What I saw in this was true excellent This little kid seems to be like is that Your best side that’s a very small [Music] [Music] [Music]