or break is serious, trying sealing it with one of the many
tree sealers available for bonsai. If you don’t have any
available, try using a little Elmer’s glue. It’s not toxic, drys
clear and makes an airtight seal. If the branch does not re
main in the position you wish it may be necessary to apply
a second wrap around that particular branch with another
wire... or simply remove the frst wire and replace it with
one of suffcient thickness to do the job.
Step Three: Detail Pruning &
Shaping.
Once you have move all the branches into the ap-
proximate positions for your fnal design, trim back the
length of branches to establish the overall shape of the
tree. Remember that all bonsai have a triangular shape.
In most cases, the largest and longest branches are
located at the bottom. Branches gradually get thinner and
shorter as they approach the apex.
Once you have shortened the branches to the
desired length and established a well balanced composi-
tion, begin to work on each individual branch. Remove
all green growth which emerges from the bottom of these
branches. (Trees do not grow leaves out of the bottom of
a branch) and cut or pinch back foliage on the tops and
sides of each branch until they begin to develop a pad like
shape. In the future, as the tree grows and develops you
will need to keep these foliage pads pinched back and we
formed. They will become more dense with green growth
and add greatly to it’s appearance of age and maturity.
In the case of this particular juniper we have decided
to create an area of deadwood using a live branch near