How long to wait before trimming?

I'm curious about how long you wait before trimming. When I wait several months between trimmings of my pomegranate, its basic trunk and main branch structure get obscured by the new growth of leaves. So, I'm often tempted to trim the leaves and shoots back to where they were before they put on much growth. But, on the other hand, I know that for the tree to be healthy, it needs to do some growing. I'm curious about what the rest of you do. Do you let the trees grow and then cut them back severely or do you trim often?

Barry M wrote:I'm curious about how long you wait before trimming. When I wait several months between trimmings of my pomegranate, its basic trunk and main branch structure get obscured by the new growth of leaves. So, I'm often tempted to trim the leaves and shoots back to where they were before they put on much growth. But, on the other hand, I know that for the tree to be healthy, it needs to do some growing. I'm curious about what the rest of you do. Do you let the trees grow and then cut them back severely or do you trim often?

For the most part, it is about letting them grow out than prune back and grow out and prune back and etc.

It depends on what stage your tree is in. If it is just starting out in bonsaihood, you're probably better off letting it grow a bit, then cutting back. You can see the new branches and choose which you keep and which you don't, and which to leave longer and which to cut back hard.

For an established tree, constant pinching of new growth might be called for as you work toward improved ramification.

There's one further complication with trees like Punica - Pomegranate. It flowers on the tips of new shoots. If you want to see it flower you do need to leave them on until they are fully extended and only cut back after flowering/fruiting, if desired.