The core of wintersweet bonsai maintenance is pruning and shaping, usually pruning and topping, supplemented by techniques such as coiling and stretching.

For the pruning of newly planted saplings, light cutting and slow pruning should be adopted according to the requirements of the shape. The purpose is to expand the crown, promote the formation, relax the tree vigor and bloom early. Light pruning is suitable.

Be careful not to cause a large number of leggy branches due to heavy pruning, which wastes nutrients and is extremely detrimental to the quantity, quality and effect of flowering.

The pruning and shaping of wintersweet bonsai is mainly divided into the following three stages: 1. After the flowers fade and before sprouting, the pot soil is replaced, the pruning is carried out, and the dead (root) branches, diseased and insect branches, and excessive branches are cut off. Dense (root) branches and other types of branches that affect the shape of the tree.

For all annual branches that need to be retained, 1 to 3 pairs of buds are generally left and cut short according to the needs of their respective parts. Only in this way can the new shoots they sprout grow normally. The tree shape is plump, with dense nodes, thick branches, and dense flower buds, which lays a good foundation for multiple buds and dense blooms in the later period.

2. Due to the strong germination ability of wintersweet, in order to reduce nutrient consumption and make the remaining branches grow strong, combined with the need for plastic surgery, timely cut off the base sprouts, overly dense branches, slender branches, etc. that affect the tree shape. of useless branches.

We also use bonsai modeling techniques to properly support and pull some dry branches, correct and increase the angle of the branches, and ease the tree's vigor, so as to control vegetative growth and promote reproductive growth.

When the branches grow to 8 pairs of leaves, leave 6 to 8 pairs of leaves (10 cm long) for top pruning or topping.

Sometimes there will be secondary shoots and tertiary shoots. Use the same method to cut and pick them. This can remove the growth potential of their respective tops, control the excessive growth, promote side branches, prevent excessive vegetative growth, and promote their growth. Transform from vegetative growth to reproductive growth, strengthen the nutrient accumulation of dry branches, concentrate nutrients to promote flower bud differentiation, and achieve the purpose of vigorous plant growth and more flowers.

For older adult wintersweet bonsai, due to the large number of flowers blooming for many years, the growth of the branches is obviously slowed down.

When pruning, you should consider how to balance the tree vigor, resolve the contradiction between vegetative growth and reproductive growth, improve ventilation and light transmission conditions, and maintain a good tree shape.

Therefore, pruning should be intensified year by year, and some backbone branches should be retracted and renewed in time. For individual aging wax plum bonsai, water and fertilizer management should be strengthened in a timely manner to promote the tree's recovery as soon as possible and maintain its growth and development for a long time. Flowering is luxuriant.

3. In the early winter, the flower buds on the wintersweet branches have swelled. At this time, all the leaves should be removed in time. Some branches with few or no flower buds should be combined with wintersweet bonsai. The shape requires thinning out and reducing overly dense branches and flowerless branches, which can fully highlight the landscape effect of fewer branches and more flowers.