Cinnamon Osmanthus Pruning and Shaping Techniques
Today, the editor will introduce knowledge about making bonsai with cinnamon osmanthus, focusing on the pruning and shaping techniques of cinnamon osmanthus, which will surely be helpful to you. Let's learn about it together!
The process of training a plant to have a certain shape and structure is called shaping. This involves artificial processing, cutting off some branches, or changing the growth direction of branches to achieve the goal of altering the tree shape.
Cinnamon osmanthus trees have a strong germination ability and a natural shrub-forming characteristic. Depending on the growth and development characteristics, growing environment, and cultivation purposes of cinnamon osmanthus trees, it is necessary to prune and shape them appropriately to achieve a balance between tree nutrition and reproductive growth, arrange the tree structure reasonably, make full use of sunlight and air, improve photosynthesis efficiency, concentrate nutrition on the required branches and leaves, promote early flowering, facilitate the rejuvenation of old trees, and ensure vigorous growth, dense flowering, and a complete canopy.
For ornamental cinnamon osmanthus trees, artificial pruning and shaping can create a beauty that integrates natural and artistic interventions on the basis of natural beauty. For flower-picking cinnamon osmanthus, artificial pruning and shaping can expand the canopy, accelerate growth, prevent unnecessary nutrient consumption, and promote abundant flowering. Pruning of cinnamon osmanthus can also enhance the tree's wind resistance, reduce the incidence of diseases and pests, and prevent the latency and spread of diseases and pests.
1. Pruning and shaping techniques for different uses of cinnamon osmanthus trees. Different shaping methods form different tree shapes, and different uses of cinnamon osmanthus trees have specific pruning and shaping requirements. For example, when planted as street trees, they need to be pruned and shaped into single-trunk cinnamon osmanthus to promote height growth and increase the height under the branches, forming a central trunk shape; for flower-picking trees, pruning and shaping control height growth, expand the canopy, and form a non-central trunk shape.
According to the biological characteristics of cinnamon osmanthus trees, the degree of pruning differs during different growth periods. For young trees, light pruning is needed to facilitate the accumulation of organic matter and promote bud differentiation. For adult trees, it is necessary to adjust the conflict between growth and flowering; for old trees, heavy pruning should be performed to stimulate new branches and restore their growth potential.
Appropriate pruning should be conducted based on the environmental conditions of the cinnamon osmanthus tree growth area. That is, the pruning methods differ in different ecological environments, and the pruning methods also differ in different configuration environments.
2. Cinnamon Osmanthus Tree Shaping and Pruning Methods
(1) Natural Style Shaping: This includes shapes like flat circular, oblong, spherical, oval, umbrella-shaped, and irregular.
(2) Artificial Style Shaping: This includes geometric shapes like spherical, vase-shaped, and rectangular.
(3) Mixed Natural and Artificial Style Shaping: This includes two types, non-central trunk and central trunk.
Non-central trunk: This includes natural cup-shaped, natural open hearted, multi-trunk, cluster spherical, and hemisphere shapes.
Central trunk: This is divided into layered and scattered shapes.
3. Specific Cinnamon Osmanthus Pruning Techniques: For young trees, prune lightly; for old trees, prune strongly; for weak branches, cut more; for strong branches, cut less; cut where it is dry.
(1) Bud removal: This is the method of removing buds before they germinate. When cinnamon osmanthus germinates, both the main trunk and basal buds can sprout. It is necessary to remove the buds at the bottom of the main trunk to concentrate nutrition and moisture on the upper branches, allowing them to grow vigorously and healthily to form the ideal tree shape.
(2) Shortening: This refers to cutting off a part of the one-year-old branches. Its main function is to control the canopy and branches, promoting the germination of lateral buds. When the growth of the cinnamon osmanthus tree or branches is not good, shortening can be performed. Depending on the degree of shortening, it can be divided into light shortening, medium shortening, and heavy shortening. Shortening can effectively control the canopy and promote the development of medium and short strong branches.
(3) Thinning: This refers to the pruning method of removing branches from the base. For varieties with strong germination and branching abilities, excessive branching and multiple growths within a year can easily cause canopy closure, poor ventilation, and lighting, so dense branches should be thinned appropriately. Generally, cinnamon osmanthus pruning focuses on thinning, only thinning dense outer branches, and cutting off weak, vigorous, and diseased branches to improve the ventilation and lighting conditions of the plant.
4. Precautions During Pruning
Firstly, young cinnamon osmanthus trees have a vigorous growth momentum. In addition to dried branches, diseased branches, vigorous branches, crossed branches, and damaged branches that should be pruned in a timely manner, strong pruning is generally not recommended.
Secondly, pruning and shaping should be based on the tree's shape. For golden cinnamon osmanthus and silver cinnamon osmanthus aiming to develop a tree-like canopy, roots and trunk buds or branches should be removed; for varieties like四季桂 that naturally form shrubs, slight pruning can make them spherical. After shaping, only delicate branches, diseased branches, dense branches, and crossed branches need to be removed.
Thirdly, for economically important trees that harvest flowers, strong pruning should not be performed after shaping, as it may affect the flower yield.
Fourthly, pruning cuts should be smooth to facilitate healing.
Fifthly, for plants that are very tall and lack leaves at the bottom, the top 2/3 or 3/4 of the trunk can be cut to promote new branches from the lower part of the trunk. The next year, all vigorous branches, branches in the wrong position, and other messy branches should be cut off to form a full and natural shape.
Sixthly, for trees that are top-heavy and overly tall, the upper strong branches can be cut, leaving only the smaller branches below to balance the tree's growth.
The above introduces the complete pruning and shaping techniques for cinnamon osmanthus, for everyone to learn and understand!