How to prune & wire a Apple Crab Bonsai?

Pruning your bonsai is important not only to maintain or create an aesthetic style but also to manipulate the production of flowers and fruits.

In the spring, you can cut new shoots back to one or two leaves left on the stem. You should also remove fruits if there are too many because they weaken the tree. Remove all but one from each cluster.

After that, wait until late summer or autumn to prune, or until the leaves have fallen off, as this will avoid confusion between stems and flower buds. If you do not want your crab apple to produce fruits that year, cut off the flowers as soon as they die. We recommend that you only let your crab apple fruit once every two to three years to avoid weakening the tree.

Training your crab apple bonsai using wiring is possible on the younger, suppler branches but training older ones should be conducted with great care as the wood is very brittle. We recommend using wires with a thickness that matches the thickness of the branch: if the wire you choose is too thick you will damage the bark. If it is too thin, it won’t be effective.

For more information, visit our website for our full blog on a Crab Apple Bonsai:

https://miyagibonsai.co.uk/crab-apple-bonsai-care-guide/

See our range of Apple Crab's:

https://miyagibonsai.co.uk/outdoor-bonsai-trees/crab-apple-bonsai-tree/ Read more