What The Heck Is A China Bonsai Tool?
Like with any other art or craft, you need the right tools to help you get the image in your head to real life. Bonsai is the art of shaping, maintaining and presenting little trees. Since the size and scale of what you are doing is so different from maintaining a regular-sized tree, the usual gardening tools are too cumbersome to use. Some bonsai masters prefer Japanese bonsai tools, and others prefer bonsai tools from China. They are usually referred to as Chinese bonsai tools, but sometimes are listed as China bonsai tools.
Made of Metal
Chinese bonsai tools are not made of china, despite their name. Even though china is pretty strong and the bonsai small, a china bonsai tool would not last you too long. They are usually made of metal, preferably steel. They are, as their name suggests, made in China. Bonsai tools, as well as bonsai, originated in the Orient thousands of years ago, so the Chinese have a lot of experience making bonsai tools.
Various Kinds
There are many kinds of bonsai tools from China. You don't need all of them, but you do need some basics. First off, you need a bonsai care book or access to bonsai websites to help instruct you in how to use your tools. Since they are smaller and lighter than usual gardening tools, they will cost less.
The main tool you will need is some kind of cutter. There are leaf cutters, twig cutters and wire cutters. The last is for helping trim the wires you use to help shape and support your bonsai tree - not to be used on the tree itself. You need to know if your species of tree does best with a sharp blade or a dull blade.
There are also root hooks, which look very similar to the hoof picks used for cleaning out the hooves of horses, ponies, donkeys and cows. The only difference from a hoof pick is that a root pick is longer. Root hooks help you with replanting, when you have to trim back as much as half of your bonsai tree's root system to keep the tree small and long lived.
You also can choose to get a bonsai brush, usually made of bamboo or some other plant and not metal. They are also made in China. Bonsai tools like the brush are as elegant as the trees they help you care for.
