How to Trim an Umbrella Bonsai Tree

Overview

Hawaiian umbrella trees make excellent bonsai trees for beginners due to the minimal maintenance required. Preferring indirect light and warmer temperatures, umbrella trees are ideal indoor bonsai trees. Hawaiian umbrella trees are an evergreen shrub which does not need or benefit from wire training to be grown as a bonsai and are usually grown in the informal upright form or in the forest group form of bonsai. In addition to their status as an easily grown bonsai tree, umbrella trees are enjoyed for their red springtime blooms and for their banyan roots. Umbrella bonsai trees do not need the aggressive pruning used with most other bonsai trees, but do require light trimming.

Step 1

Trim back new growth to maintain the shape of the canopy of your Hawaiian umbrella tree. Get down on eye level with your tree to shape the canopy.

Step 2

Prune away shoots and no more than one-third of new growth to keep your bonsai healthy.

Step 3

Pinch back the ends of stems to stimulate branch growth. This will create a more dense canopy for your umbrella tree.