bonsai trunk chop

bonsai trunk chop
 
Bonsai Care > Bonsai Trunk Chop


Bonsai Trunk Chop

Bonsai trunk chopping is a dramatic technique to shape and form your bonsai. Essentially with a bonsai trunk chop you're topping the tree. This is an aspect of bonsai care done to discourage any further growth upward.

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Don't even consider bonsai trunk chopping until the trunk is at least half the final thickness you're looking for. Two-thirds would be even better. That means if you if you wanted a three inch trunk it would be best to wait until the trunk hits two inches in diameter before chopping.

If you need the trunk to grow thicker, leave it outdoors. Chopping will not help with thickening.

More Bonsai Trunk
Chopping Considerations

Aesthetically, you want the height of your tree to be 5-6 times the trunk diameter. Keep that in mind before you go bonsai trunk chopping, okay?
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Now you want to chop about an inch higher than you'd think, to allow for die-back. In most cases I would use a wound & grafting compound on the chop. Even so, expect it to take years for the chop site to heal. Figure approximate a quarter of an inch a year. That means if you chopped a 2 inch trunk you're looking at 8-10 YEARS for complete healing.

After your chop the tree will be re energized. You will eventually find new bud breaks and branches forming all over the section of trunk that's left. Depending on the species this process can take months however. So be patient.

Remember that junipers and pines are a different. So you have to take a different approach to chopping since you can't cut back to bare wood without foliage since that section will usually die back.

Sometimes it's best to make at least one preliminary chop. This will encourage low branching. You want to allow these low branches to develop as sacrificial branches at the same time you are allowing the leader to grow unrestricted. Then here's some trunk thickening tricks


Bonsai Trunk Chop





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