Orlando Bonsai » wiring

A feat in bonsai engineering

Paul Pikel — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:30:47 +0000

Okay, so there will be times when you are dealing with a very large branch or have a need to change your trunk line. One way to approach this is to use one or multiple large wires to wrap and then bend the branch. However the use of guidewires is a great way to do the same thing with better control and a smaller size wire. In the video I show what I mean:

In this photo you can see the remnants of the initial twist that I did in order to create the loop around the branch and the root. As you can now see it is twisted as the wire is turned so that it can be all but cut off.

Here is the complete guidewire insalled top to bottom. Please note that you will want to add some sort of padding at the points where it touches the trees under the wire to protect the cambium. You need to install before you start twisting the wire

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Peanut butter and Jelly

Paul Pikel — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:45:40 +0000

There are times when things just come together perfectly, and I can officially state that I actually had the right pot for the tree for the first time. I spent much of the morning re-wiring and redefining my Crepe Myrtle. I can’t believe the pictures from last January and how far this tree has come.

Crape Myrtle Thread Grafted

Just look how nicely the pot compliments the bark of the tree. When this tree is leafed out and flowering it will really be something special. When I repotted the tree I found that the roots had been holding a lot of water. so with the new soil it should produce a lot of new growth and be much healthier.

Crape Myrtle Close up

Here is a close up of the tree. This tree is not the easiest tree to wire. I’m using 1mm wire on branches that are about 1mm thick. However if I don’t the branches tend to curl up. I need the branches mid way up the trunk to fill in over the scar. I should be able to achieve that this year. I have a feeling the next time I post this tree it will be a finished Bonsai.

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Wired and clipped

Paul Pikel — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:06:00 +0000

So I got a chance to take a look and the trident maple now that the leaves are gone. What appeared to be a lot of new growth wound up being not very useable. The problem was that the growth from the lower part of the tree blocked out growth from the upper section, so no new branches near the top of the tree.

As you can see I was able to bend many of the branches down as planned. However what I exposed were few branches near the top.

Keep in mind, I am only focusing on developing the basic structure of this tree, not complete branches. The Secondary and Tirshiary will come in following years. So I am using wiring and bending, along with Clip and Grow to develop this tree.

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With great trees, comes great responsibility…

Paul Pikel — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:52:23 +0000

At times I’m reminded of my Mother saying, “well you wanted a puppy…”, because when it comes to Bonsai there is a lot of work to be done. However I am still very happy that I have my Bonsai collection, and my trees are all doing very well.

Here is my huge Trident Maple after its first year in a Bonsai pot. The weather hasn’t fully turned very cold yet, so I helped my tree go dormant by removing the leaves.

You can see all the buds in place ready for next Spring, so removing the leaves didn’t hurt the tree. However it does allow me to get a look at the growth, and get prepared for all the wiring.

Notice how all the new growth is growing straight up, well that’s what needs to be wired down. Why? Well first of all old trees have hanging branches, whereas young tree have branches that grow upwards. So by wiring them down we add the illusion of age. Also it opens the tree so that light can get to the trunk and more branches can grow. Remember last year there were very few branches so in a very short time this tree has become rather dense.

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Approach graft-ed

Paul Pikel — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:21:14 +0000

Well last year I attemped my first approach graft on my Trident Maple that was not budding out where I needed it to. Today I got an opportunity to inspect the graft and it looks like it was successful.

The last time I showed the tack the branch was much thinner. However over the year the branch has thinkened, and the graft has really healed.

Here is a close up after the tack was removed. Normally I would clip off the lead branch before the graft. However I think I’ll leave it on a little longer just to be sure that the graft is ready and strong enough to support the branch.

Here is the tree as it looks right after loosing its leaves for the year. I have some wiring to do, but the tree has filled in nicely.

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