• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Pinching spring buds on Japanese maple

March 7, 2017 by Jonas Dupuich

Spring is a busy time for keeping after refined Japanese maples. In order to keep internodes short, I pinch new shoots as soon as they emerge.

Shohin Japanese maple – 6.5″ tall, 13″ wide

Because the buds open at different times, I check this tree daily to see if there are new shoots to pinch.

I leave the first pair of leaves alone and pinch the next pair as soon as I can reach them. Here’s what this looks like.

New shoots on Japanese maple – time to pinch!

I use tweezers for this work as the interior shoots are too small for me to reach with my fingers. The tweezers are handy as they can be used to separate the outer pair of leaves and then grab the young shoot inside.

Spreading the first pair of leaves apart to expose the inner shoot

After removing the interior shoot

Most of the buds on the maple opened over a period of about one week, but as I have several Japanese maples that open at different times, it can be a month of careful monitoring before the trees are all open. At that point I can let the trees grow for a while and revisit them in May to see if cutback or wiring is necessary.

 

✕

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Japanese maple, Pinching, Shohin

Previous Post: « Removing the last sacrifice branch
Next Post: Making a big cut on an ume bonsai »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charles Orr says

    March 7, 2017 at 5:06 am

    I’ve been waiting too long to take the second bud. I look forward to trying this method. Do you practice this on developing trees or only on trees in refinement?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 7, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Hi Charles – I pinch maples when I’m working to improve the ramification. If I’m still thickening the trunk, I let the tree grow.

  2. Lani says

    March 7, 2017 at 6:15 am

    I will definitely pinch out the new growth this spring. Would you recommend the same treatment on trident maples as well?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 7, 2017 at 9:36 am

      Hi Lani – trident maples are generally treated differently. I let these grow in spring and cut them back once or twice a year.

  3. Florence says

    March 7, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    Does this only apply to small maples? I have a tamukeyama that’s about 3 feet tall and it’s been one year since it’s been planted on our property. I’m not familiar with the grooming process but I understand they’re super growers. Just wondering if I needed to pinch like you demonstrated. Thanks 🙂

    • Florence says

      March 7, 2017 at 7:44 pm

      Oh and I also came about this website by chance- Google recommended it to me hehe

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 7, 2017 at 8:20 pm

      Hi Florence – pinching is not necessary for your tree. For landscape trees the process is a little different. The main way to control vigor is by removing strong shoots and replacing them with less vigorous shoots.

  4. Larry M says

    March 8, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    My maples are taking a year off to grow and strengthen the roots!

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2023 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT