The Best Bonsai Tools For Sale Online

Now that we’ve shown you our top selection of the best bonsai tools for sale, it’s worth mentioning that there’s plenty of other equipment you should consider for your nursery. While you may not need all of them in the beginning stages, you should look into buying some of them as you advance with your skills.

Here’s a quick look at the basic and advanced bonsai tools you’ll find at your local store or for sale online.

Pruning and Design

There are four main classes of bonsai pruning tools that are used for maintenance and design. The first is shears, for which there is a massive variety. They differ in the blade and handle length, shape, and cutting angle. You even get those that are designed for a specific species or style.

Next on the list is the concave cutter. While shears mainly focus on twigs and branches, these tools deal with knobs and cutting branches at the base that leaves a slight slice for better healing. They are also available in various shapes and sizes, depending on the task you have at hand.

The final two classes are saws and knives, which both serve the same purpose. You’ll use these when the branches or stems are too thick for the first two categories, but extreme care needs to be taken. You can cause severe damage to your bonsai tree if you don’t use them properly.

Roots and Repotting

When it’s time to repot a bonsai tree, you’ll need to remove the soil and roots from the pot. There are specialized sickles to help with this task, which are especially helpful when the soil refused to budge. You should also invest in some sheets or bags to catch the soil as it falls and not create a mess.

You’ll need to prune the roots back so that there’s room for future growth. Root rakes and hooks come in handy, letting your clear the root ball of the old soil before placing the bonsai in the new substrate. You can also use shears to shorten some of the roots, but take care not to remove too many of them.

When you’re ready to place your bonsai in the pot, there are a few things you may need:

• Sieve: Removes fine particles and breaks down more granular components
• Scoops: Places soil in the container, especially when you have overhanging branches that make it more challenging
• Bamboo or chopsticks: Presses the soil between the roots without damaging them
• Tweezer spatula: Removes weeds from or applies moss to the soil surface.

Bending and Wiring

Wires are effective for bending branches and trunks into shape for a future design you have in mind. There are various diameters and lengths you can buy, and it all depends on how thick and long the object is you want to bend. You can choose between anodized aluminum and annealed copper.

However, you might have strong branches you want to bend without fear of breaking them. One method that works well is placing wet raffia around them before you secure the wire. It’ll make the branch more supple and easier to turn and bend without serious injury. You can also use rubber tapes or bicycle tubes over gauze.

If you’re going to use guy wires, we recommend obtaining transparent tubes made of rubber to protect the branches or trunks. There are also unique clamps or steel levers available if you’re dealing with massively thick objects. Finally, you can use iron rebars with wooden wedges and guy wires.

Working with Deadwood

Some bonsai enthusiasts transform portions of a tree into deadwood. They attempt to simulate nature where you find massive trees with parts that are dead due to lightning, fire, or some other form of severe damage. To make this effect look nature on the bonsai, there are many tools you can use.

The branch splitter provides several means for splitting stumps or dead branches. You can use it to break small wooden particles on the trunk or branches, or you can pull fibers on conifers that have a fibrous structure. In the end, you can clean the object while creating the optimal deadwood effect.

A slim chisel is also suitable for lifting up the wood fibers. If you’re keen on peeling the bark, you can use carving hooks or loop knives designed specifically for this purpose. These tools also let you craft small furrows in the deadwood for extra appeal.

There are too many types of carvers to list here that help you with smoothing, shaping, hollowing, or narrowing. You can use a gas torch to eliminate any markings you left behind, which are cleaned off with steel brushes. Finally, feel free to preserve your final design with a wood hardener.

Propagation

Growing a new bonsai from the one you already have is always a fun experience. Also, it’s a great way to acquire a new tree for free by collecting cuttings and seeds from the wild. However, there are different ways to propagate various species, and there’s a list of tools that go along with each method.

For instance, there are smooth, grafting knives you can use if you want to fuse one tree with another to help the new one grow. You’ll also need knives, cutters, and covering material for air layering. Cuttings and seeds may be easy to propagate in some instances, while in others you’ll need liquid bonsai supplies or sanitary equipment.

Electrical Tools

Some people prefer to use electrical hand tools when working with bonsais or deadwood. There’s a wide variety of drills, bits, small sanders, and other equipment you can use to make the job easier if you prefer. However, care should always be taken not to use something so powerful that it hurts your tree.

You’ll also need safety equipment when working with these tools. You don’t want a stray piece of wood flying into your eye or causing damage to your hands. Protective wear is definitely on your list of equipment to buy if you’re going to go this route with maintaining your bonsai tree.

General Maintenance

Owning any of the above equipment can be exciting, especially if you start collecting and using several of them. You’ll need to keep them sharp, clean, and clear of rust so that you can extend the expected lifespan. The last thing you want is to ruin a perfectly good pair of shears within the first few months.

Rust erasers are excellent for quickly eliminating dirt or rust you find on the steel. You’ll need some sharpeners to keep the blades in peak condition; otherwise, you may end up damaging your tree. Finally, you should get some disinfectants to prevent the spread of viruses, bacteria, and fungi from one species to another.

Watering

There are many ways in which you can water your vast bonsai collection. If you have them outsides, a simple solution is a garden hose with a sprinkler attachment. The key is releasing fine droplets out the end of the hose so that they don’t cause too much change in the soil.

You can also use a watering can or ball-shower. You’ll find a variety of shapes and sizes available online, but the ones with long necks and small holes on the nozzle are ideal. There needs to be enough pressure in the neck to release the liquid in small droplets.

Bonsai trees need enough humidity in the day, which can be challenging to attain in dry climates. A mister is an excellent idea to keep the foliage and air around it moist. Another solution is a humidity tray, where you place water among stones for evaporation into the air.

If you’re away from home a lot, you’ll need to invest in an automated irrigation system. While you can attach sprinkler heads to the pipes, it may not work for indoor bonsais. You can purchase slow-releasing taps that drip for several minutes on the soil instead of spraying overhead.

Surfaces

When you work with a bonsai during maintenance or design pruning, you often have to turn it around to trim on a different side. It may result in scratching the table you’re working on or disturbing the leaves and twigs you’re trying to keep in place. Depending on how big the tree is, you may also find it difficult to move all the time.

Turntables are the ideal solution for this situation. With the click of a button, the surface will turn until you have the tree in the position you need it to be. You won’t damage the tabletop, and it saves your arms and hands for the job at hand.