Bonsai Art » Wiring

Stop Unwanted Wire Cuts

Adam — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:58:08 +0000

Sometimes quite a bit of pressure needs to be applied to a branch to get the desired effect. This can often cause unwanted unsightly wire scars which can take years for the tree to grow back to normality
A good tip to stop your wiring cutting into the branches and trunk is to wrap a small piece of foam around the desired branch before wiring. It usually works best on a branch where a large amount of pressure is about to be applied.

How Long to Leave Wire on

Adam — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:14:42 +0000

How long exactly should you leave wire on your trees? I must admit that I have scarred one or two myself from leaving wire on there too long. Although if you take it off too early the branch will not stay in place. We need to find somewhere between the two extremes to gain the perfect result.

I have tried to to a bit of experimenting with this to find out what is the best sort of time range to leave it on. I think it varies from tree to tree and also with different species. What I tend to do is to leave it wired for about 2 weeks which is not long enough for any scarring. After the two weeks you should take the wire off and rewire it in a different position. If is still doesn’t want to stay in that position you can repeat this as many times as you like to make sure it stays put. I know that other people have different methods of doing it but this is what I find works best for me to stop scars on the bark.

Junipers and other conifers seem to be able to stand the wire for the longest time and it does not seem to cut into them easily. Deciduous trees are the ones to watch out for as new growth can easily be scarred by wire so you should try to only apply wiring to branches which are at least a centimeter thick.

Newly Styled Willow Tree

Adam — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:16:16 +0000

One of my yamadori finds from this winter was this lovely willow tree. At least I’m pretty sure it’s a type of willow because it is a lot harder trying to identify trees in the winter. Only time will tell if I’m correct.
It’s quite a bushy looking tree at about 2 foot tall. I’ve trimmed a few of the major branches off the bottom and also reduced the height a bit.

I’ve bought some mega 4mm wire from eBay this week so decided to give it a go on this tree as you can see. Some of the branches are slightly too big for the wire to manipulate and I’d probably do better with a bending jack.

I think it’s going to look very good come spring when it’s all leafy and I should be able to develop a good crown quickly on it.