Pruning: The most important and most frequently used technique for bonsai design is pruning the bonsai. This not only limits the growth in size, but also influences the shape of the bonsai tree and moves it in the desired direction. Depending on the type of tree, growth vigor, degree of maturity of the bonsai, etc., the tree is pruned about 2-3 times a year.
Wiring: In order to bring a tree precisely into the desired shape, wiring of the bonsai is usually unavoidable. Special bonsai wire is wound around the shoots or the trunk to be formed and then the part of the plant is bent in the desired direction. After a while (often months or years) the shoot will hold the new position and the bonsai wire will be removed.
Pinching: Cutting and wireing are among the basic techniques of bonsai styling. This means that both measures are used both for bonsai under construction and for trees whose basic shaping has largely been completed. Pinching bonsai is also one of the basic techniques, but with a few exceptions, it is mainly used for largely finished bonsai. The shoot tips are removed in order to obtain a finer branching of the branch pads.
Leaf cut: A bonsai leaf cut (defoliation) is used like pinching to increase the fine branching of a bonsai. Often this also reduces the leaf size.
Air layering: One of the more advanced techniques is the air layering of a bonsai. The main concern here is to achieve a good root approach, sometimes also to shorten a trunk that is too long or to obtain raw material for bonsai cultivation.
Deadwood design: The advanced techniques of bonsai styling also include methods of deadwood design, i.e. that are used to design jin and shari parts. Jin is a dead branch and Shari is a debarked trunk section.
Cultivation: If you want to "grow your own bonsai", similar techniques are used. Here, however, a much more systematic approach has to be taken, as with bonsai cultivation e.g. from tree seeds the time horizon until the desired result occurs is much longer. If you want to grow a bonsai yourself, you have to deal with the bonsai style of the tree very early on. For example, once the main movement has been defined, it can hardly be changed later.
Choice of bonsai pot: No good bonsai without a matching bonsai pot. Therefore, when it comes to bonsai styling, you cannot avoid choosing an adequate bonsai pot. You can find numerous tips on this under: Selection of bonsai pots.