Pruning of this Japanese Acer last year has opened the canopy and initiated a new fresh flush of foliage. The traditional methods of Niwaki (garden tree in Japanese) have been applied to manage and manipulate growth and foliage production of the tree to fit a small garden space. This technique is closely related to the art of Bonsai but is applied to trees and shrubs in the garden and wider landscape. As with any skills and techniques practice is essential. If this is something that you would like to become skilled at carry out your first projects on either plants that are out of the way or on parts of the plant that are not ‘high profile.
Check out more pruning results on my ‘specialist pruning’ page.
Learn more about Niwaki pruning