Hi All, I just joined the Bonsai Empire. Haven't read through much but it feels good to be here already .
I just bought myself a tree , Olea Europaea about 5 months ago. Been taking as good care as I possibly can since being a newbie when it comes to bonsai. I have attached a picture of it, although that was 4 months ago, I have started training on one branch and since then there have been more growth too. Approx. 5-6 years old as told so from the place that I bought it from. How accurate that is I cannot say - maybe someone here can help me with that.
But, that's not the question really. I would like to know about pruning/cutting back.
Why do we cut back?
How much to cut back?
Are their specific ways to cut back in order to get a different response from the tree afterward?
When are the best times to cut back? I'm from Cape Town, South Africa and it currently is Autumn here and will be so for the following 3 months.
I'd love some feedback if anybody can assist me.
Thanks in advance

There are various reasons to cut back :
- for shape , we usually prune hard to acquire the shape we want the tree to be (usually done on prebonsai on their first styiling).
- mantainance pruning , to keep the already formed shape as it is and keep the tree healthy .
-for trunk building , this is basically the same as pruning for shape , you prune hard then let it grow then prune again and so on sometimes leaving sacrificial branches to thicken the trunk faster .
You should research all this yourself more in depth, as I have only scratched the surface , then you can figure out what to do with yours .

Ps : I hope you are keeping this tree outside , it won't survive long in a house

HI Enaisio, thanks for the info. I have started reading up more on my queries and got a much better idea of how to and when to go about cutting back.
lol!!! yes yes yes, indeed...that pic i took was when i bought my little bonsai caretaker. My "olivia" is standing outside.

Thanks buddy

Can I just dip in here and ask about my ash tree in the picture? Not sure what to do with it yet but it has some lovely old growth on it.
Thanks

Hi Ginger, I'm not very experienced, the tree still looks salvageable though. Maybe re-pot, trim the roots and begun from scratch?
I do, however, think Enaisio might be best suited to help you.

Lowki : it is nice to hear that i motivated you to research on your own and trust me it will be worth it when you find out what there is to know about bonsai, it is a beautifull art.
Ginger :It is not very nice to hijack post like that ,plus if you make that tree it's own post you will get a response from everyone.

Apologies for the hijacking! It wouldn't let me post a new topic!

That's strange you could see if Oscar could solve your problem

You shouldn't prune at all if you want to build the trunk. You let the branches grow freely and that thickens up the trunk. Like Teunis Jan Klein said in this video () 1m of branch gives u about 1 cm in trunk thickness. Sacrifical branch is another method but you cut off only single big branch.