BONSAI TOOLS

Bonsai tools are specialized tools that have evolved over hundreds of years with the art of bonsai. Good quality tools are made of forged, high-carbon steel to hold a sharp edge and will provide a lifetime of service if used and cared for properly. You will need just one or two tools to get started.

TOOLS USED FOR PRUNING:

Leaf Pruners are used to defoliate trees. Their spring-loaded action makes cutting off each leaf at its petiole (stem) easy.

Heavy Duty Shears are used to cut stout branches and roots.

Shears come in various sizes and are used to cut everything from buds and leaves to stout branches and roots. Their long handles allow access to the interior of a tree without disturbing the outer branches and provide a mechanical advantage to cut branches of varying sizes.

Medium Duty Shears are very versatile. Use them for small to thick branches. They are sharp and accurate, allowing for detail work using their blade tips, as well as heavier branches using the stout part of the blades. This is a good tool to start with because of its versatility.

Light Duty Shears are perfect for fine detailed pruning of leaves, shoots, and candles on conifers. When there is a lot of detailed work to do, reach for this precise tool.

Concave Cutters come in three sizes and are used to cut branches. The angled, concave blade leaves a clean cut that heals more quickly.

Knob or Spherical Cutters also come in three sizes and are used to cut branches at their base. These cutters leave a deep, hollow cut allowing the bark to heal with minimal pruning scar.

Root Cutters come in three sizes and are used primarily to cut tough, fibrous roots, split live branches, and tear deadwood.

TOOLS USED FOR WIRING:

Pliers are used for bending and holding heavy wire when wiring branches. They can also tear deadwood on branches when creating a jin or a shari.

Wire Cutters are used to cut off the spool and remove the wire from branches after the branches have been set. Bonsai wire cutters have a snub nose that cuts wire without damaging or cutting branches. Wire cutters are available in different sizes to cut thick or thin wire

Aluminum Bonsai Wire, made from anodized aluminum, comes in eight different thicknesses, from 1 mm to 6 mm in diameter. Aluminum wire is soft and mainly used for deciduous and tropical tree species.

Copper Bonsai Wire, made from annealed copper, comes in eight thicknesses, from 6 gauge to 20 gauge in diameter. Copper wire is annealed to make it soft. Once coiled around a branch, it will harden to hold the branch in place. 

TOOLS USED FOR POTTING:

Chopsticks are inexpensive and extremely useful in teasing away soil from the root ball. They are also used to auger soil between roots when potting a tree to fill air pockets or cavities.

Scythe: The scythe can separate a root-bound tree from its container. It can also be used to saw through roots, such as overgrown sod-like root pads.

Root Rake and Tweezers are also used to comb out roots. The spatula on the Tweezers can tamp down soil or separate a root-bound tree from its container.

Root Hook is used to comb out roots. Used in a chopping motion, it comes in handy when working on compacted roots or heavy soil and debris in the root balls of collected trees.

Soil Scoops are a convenient way of adding soil to the container when potting a tree. Their angled spout allows pouring the soil where needed without bumping into the trunk or branches. They come is sets of three and are a tool that can be made from castoff heavy duty plastic containers.

Set of Sieves: Small (1/16” or 1.5 mm openings), Medium (1/8” or 3 mm openings, Large (1/4 “or 6 mm openings). These sieves sift particles of varying sizes to achieve a consistent, coarse soil mix without dust-like fine particles. Fine particles can compromise the mix’s porous- and free-draining properties.

Broom: Use the broom to level the potting medium and brush away the excess or sweep needles and other debris off the top-dressing of bonsai pots.

TOOLS USED FOR CARVING DEADWOOD:

Splitters, Pliers, Knives, Scrappers, Wire Brushes, Gouges, Electric Rotary Grinders

All these tools, and more, are used to carve deadwood when creating driftwood features such as jin, shari, and saba-miki.