How to Turn a Japanese Maple into a Bonsai

How do you turn a young Japanese maple seedling into a mature bonsai? In this video, I break Japanese maple bonsai development down into 6 practical stages — from the first young tree right through to refinement and enjoying. If you’re new to bonsai and wondering what you should actually be doing with your Japanese maple, this video is designed to give you a clear roadmap. Using several Japanese maples at very different stages of development, we’ll look at how the priorities change as the tree develops — and why the work you do on a young maple can be very different from the work you would carry out on an established bonsai. We’ll cover: • Starting with young Japanese maple material • Developing the roots and nebari • Building trunk thickness and taper • When to let a Japanese maple grow — and when to cut it back • Developing the primary branch structure • Building ramification and moving towards refinement The aim isn’t to suggest that a Japanese maple becomes a great bonsai overnight. Quite the opposite. Good bonsai takes time. But once you understand the different stages of development, it becomes much easier to look at your own tree and decide what it actually needs next. JAPANESE MAPLE GIVEAWAY I’m also announcing the 10 winners of my Japanese maple giveaway throughout this video. Ten pots with young maples are heading off to new homes — and hopefully this video will help their new owners understand the journey that lies ahead for them. If you’re developing your first Japanese maple bonsai, let me know in the comments what stage your tree is at. Seedling? Growing a trunk? Building branches? Or already working on ramification? And if you enjoy seeing bonsai at ALL stages of development — including the growing, pruning, repotting, mistakes and less glamorous years that come before the finished tree — consider subscribing. There’s plenty more to come. #JapaneseMaple #Bonsai #JapaneseMapleBonsai