There are three tools that are essential to even beginning the process of shaping a tree for bonsai. First you need a pair of Shears, which will allow you to do the fine work of trimming in a small space. These scissors should be sharp & you should only use them for bonsai work. You may want to attempt a small set of pruning shears to start with.

The most important piece of equipment is Concave cutters; allow you to cut branches off of the tree & leave behind a concave wound. The wound will heal much faster than a straight cut, & will callous over in such a way as to make it very hard to tell a cut has been made at all.

Another important piece of equipment is wire cutters. Sometimes you’ll want to position & train branches; for this you’ll use some chopper wire, which very flexible to bent, & after that sets & holds her position. You’ll need the wire cutters after completing this kind of work & you’re satisfied with the shape & you’ll have to take off the wire. These wire cutters allow you to cut the wire right up to the tree’s bark, without harming the tree. Other tools could be very help-fulin working with trees; they make certain tasks easier & allow you to do more things with your trees; but are not as necessary as the ones presented above:

? Knob Cutters are very similar to the concave cutters listed above, except that they have a spherical head, which allows you to cut branches & leave a small hollowed out scar.

? Sometimes you’ll have to deal with branches larger than the diameter of either concave or knob cutters; for this you should use a folding saw; are very important for working with big trees.

? When you’re working with really small trees or really twiggy growth where it’s hard to get larger shears in close you’ll need a pair of small scissors. If you have to deal with small trees or you want to do detail work on smaller trees.

? When you really need to repot a tree, first you’ll need to clear away dirt from the root ball, for this you’ll need to have a root rake. It’s used to comb out the roots & to get rid of dirt.

? Tweezers have all sorts of purposes in bonsai; from pinching back new growth & pruning to removing un-wanted objects from your bonsai. Most bonsai tweezers will have a small trowel on the end, useful for patting down moss, sowing seeds, & many other odds & ends.

If you want to find more about Bonsai Trees, check my newest e-book about bonsai care. It’s called The Secrets of Bonsai & it’s very informative.

Sincerely, Marcian Bogaciu

http://www.best-web-stuff.com