Major pruning of bonsai trees, except for flowering and fruiting trees, can be done at the same time as repotting if you do it in early spring. At this time of year, the trees will recover their strength as they start to grow.
Can pruning and repotting be done at the same time?
Why prune and repot bonsai?
Bonsai trees require regular care and maintenance to maintain their miniature size and aesthetic appeal. Two essential practices for keeping a bonsai healthy are pruning and repotting.
Why prune?
Pruning involves cutting or trimming branches (and roots) to maintain the desired shape and size of bonsai trees. Regular pruning helps the trees maintain a balanced structure and encourages new growth. Major pruning helps the trees to keep its miniature size as well as to explore a new style.
Without proper pruning, the tree may become overgrown and deformed, and may not be suitable for a bonsai tree.
Why repot?
Repotting, on the other hand, involves replacing the old soil with fresh one to provide the trees with more suitable growing conditions. It should be done regularly to prevent root-bound and provide roots with extra room to grow.
In short, pruning helps control the size and shape of the tree while repotting ensures the tree has enough nutrients and space to grow.
When is the best time to prune and repot bonsai?
Timing is key when it comes to pruning and repotting bonsai trees. While the general guidelines exist, I should point out that the exact timing varies depending on the species of bonsai trees and you should look for more information on when exactly you should prune your tree.
When is the best time to prune bonsai?
When is a good time for major pruning?
The best time to do major pruning on bonsai trees is very late winter to early spring, just before the emergence of new growth. It depends on where you live but it should be from February to March.
Major pruning here means cutting thick branches and/or cutting branches in the middle to produce new buds.
By this time, the risk of extremely cold temperatures is minimal and the new growth after the pruning cuts is less vulnerable to freezing injury. Also, the healing process from major pruning can start right away once the trees start growing again in the spring.
Also, pruning to maintain the shape and style of the tree is easier to do when there are few or no leaves because we see what to cut clearly.
This is true for both deciduous and coniferous bonsai trees. Minor pruning for shaping and cutting off unwanted branches can be done at any time of the year for these types of trees.
For flowering and fruiting bonsai trees, however, pruning has to wait until after the flowers have bloomed. If you prune them before they bloom, you will cut off the flower buds and there will be very little or no flowers this year.
What about minor pruning?
In contrast, minor pruning should be done during the growing season or dormancy whenever it is needed. Elongated branches and other unwanted branches that emerge during the growing season should be cut off as soon as they appear. You do not want the tree’s energy to be used for ones that you will eventually cut off.
Can we prune in early fall?
Pruning can be done in the fall after the growing season but it should be done very carefully.
For deciduous trees, nutrients stored in the leaves and stems may be lost with pruning instead of being transferred to the roots for the winter. This is especially true if you prune too early in the fall, i.e. before the leaves drop. It may stimulate new sprouts using energy that are otherwise stored to get through the winter as well.
For coniferous trees, pruning can be done in early fall because they do not go dormant and still can make energy, though a small amount, in winter.
Can we prune in the middle of the growing season?
If you do major pruning just after the trees have grown new leaves in the spring, nutrients and energy that were recently moved from the roots to the leaves will be lost, which means the plant will have less foliage to create energy in the coming summer.
When is the best time to repot bonsai?
The best time to repot bonsai trees is in early spring just before the new buds begin to swell. This is because repotting during this time allows the trees to recover more easily from the stress of being repotted.
Repotting during the growing season, especially during the hot summer months, should be avoided because repotting is stressful to trees and this stress, on top of hot weather, may result in withering or even death.
Winter is not a good season for repotting as well because roots stop growing during winter even those of coniferous trees.
For more about repotting bonsai trees, the following post can be helpful.
Can pruning and repotting be done at once?
Major pruning of bonsai trees, except for flowering and fruiting trees, can be done at the same time as repotting if you do it in early spring. When you do this at this time of year, the trees will regain their vigor as spring sprouts.
When we repot bonsai trees, one of the key tasks is pruning the roots. This is done for several reasons: to make room for roots to fit in a new pot, to promote the growth of fresh and fine roots, and to remove any old or damaged roots that may be hindering the trees’ growth.
When we prune the roots of a bonsai tree, we are also affecting the tree’s above-ground growth. This is because the roots and foliage of a tree are inextricably linked; the roots provide water and nutrients to the foliage, and the foliage provides the energy needed for the roots to grow.
If we cut back the root system of a bonsai tree, we need to reduce the above-ground portion of the tree as well. This is because the tree will not have the same amount of roots to support its foliage, and pruning the foliage can help to balance the tree’s energy needs.
So, after pruning the roots, we need to cut off the same amount of branches as the roots.
While this can be stressful for the tree, it is ultimately necessary for its health and growth. If we were to leave the upper portion of the tree untouched after pruning the roots, the tree could become more unhealthy and weak over time.
