Broad Wiring Questions

[just.wing.it]

Do you wire every tree?

Do never wire, and only clip and grow?

Do you wire when needed only?

Do you prefer guy wires over traditional wiring?

Do you see wiring as unneeded?

Do you see wiring as a species specific tool?

Are there certain trees that you would never wire?

Are there certain trees that you think absolutely require wire?

 

[0soyoung]

I have a wisteria, 7 azaleas, a katsura, a struggling Gremmel's pear, a subalpine fir, and an odd cotoneaster that have never had wire on them (maybe I'm forgetting one or two). Otherwise, all of 100+ trees/saplings (spanning more than 25 additional confer and deciduous species) that I'm playing with, have or have had wire on them at one time or another, even some horse chestnut seedlings!

Ashamedly I admit that it took me quite some time to do the obvious when looking at my deciduous trees and saying to myself, "If only that [branch/twig] were going that way ...". The obvious, of course, was to apply a bit of wire (around the branch or as a guy).

 

[sorce]

I gotta lot of wire to remove in spring. Dread.

Lotta wiring to do. Love!

Sorce

 

[Adair M]

I wire pretty much everything.

Deciduous, I don’t wire old branches, I wire new shoots in the spring and summer before they’ve lignified. Wire stays on 4 weeks, then removed. By that time, they have lignified. Cut back, let grow, wire, let grow, remove wire, cut back. Repeat.

 

[defra]

I gotta lot of wire to remove in spring. Dread.

Lotta wiring to do. Love!

Sorce

Lol same here removed all the wire over the past few weeks just in time slightly bit in was the first time i had to remove so much wire and i can tell i dont like it as much as aplying wire but it has to be done

I apply wire to any species when its needed!

 

[sorce]

Hell yeah!

My favorite point....

Is when the entire tree is wired and not bent.

My heart races so fast when applying wire....cuz by that time, with the design all laid out in the old nog...and usually having waited so long, I am mad excited to finally work it out!

So when it is all wired but unbent,
Ooooooo.....
Its so relaxing.
With all the hard work done....
Its time to fire one up for a last look at everything before finalizing the vision.

Yeah...that me be my favorite moment in bonsai.

That Peak between Horticulture and design.

I love that place!

Sorce

 

[Potawatomi13]

All personal trees need wire.

 

[Dav4]

I wire because @Adair M told me to....

In all seriousness, I can't say I've ever seen a good tree that hadn't had a fair amount of wire applied to it at some point in it's development, so...

 

[Adair M]

I wire because @Adair M told me to....

In all seriousness, I can't say I've ever seen a good tree that hadn't had a fair amount of wire applied to it at some point in it's development, so...

No, you used to wire before I met you.,,

I was the one who got you starting using copper!

 

[Adair M]

No, you used to wire before I met you.,,

I was the one who got you starting using copper!

(Ah hem... I’m still trying to overcome those poor wiring techniques John Romano taught you! <cough> <cough>!!!)

Lol!!

 

[sparklemotion]

In all seriousness, I can't say I've ever seen a good tree that hadn't had a fair amount of wire applied to it at some point in it's development, so...

I think the trick here is that there's a spectrum. People who say "no twig of this tree shall see wire ever" are probably doing it wrong. I suspect (admittedly without offering proof) that people who say "all trees need extensive wiring to be good" are also wrong.

I think the right answer lies somewhere in the "most trees need some wire at some point to achieve their maximum potential" grey area. The skill is in knowing which trees, what kind of wiring, and when.

And the world of bonsai is richer, of course, when folks remember that not everyone practices bonsai for the purposes of achieving the "maximum potential" of the trees.

 

[twisted trees]

I usually don't wire my broads. Cable or rope usually holds 'em down.

 

[Adair M]

I usually don't wire my broads. Cable or rope usually holds 'em down.

Wow! I didn’t know you were into BDSM!

 

[PaulH]

I wire only where it is necessary. I've never worked on a tree where wiring wasn't necessary somewhere....

 

[Zach Smith]

I'd say I wire when I can't accomplish my design goal except by wiring. Which is a long-winded way of saying a lot.

I mostly grow deciduous trees, and mostly from larger sticks/stumps, so there's a lot of wiring that must be done. I don't wire a lot of tertiary and more downstream branches, though; that's what grow and clip is for.

 

[just.wing.it]

Nigel Saunders has many trees that have never been wired, over 25 years.
Some are quite impressive too.
But even he, sometimes, will wire.

 

[Dav4]

Nigel Saunders has many trees that have never been wired, over 25 years.
Some are quite impressive too.
But even he, sometimes, will wire.

He plays base for Pink Floyd, right?

 

[0soyoung]

He plays base for Pink Floyd, right?

No, Spinal Tap.

 

[Dav4]

No, Spinal Tap.

Yessssssssssssss!!!

 

[PaulH]

Some are quite impressive too.

Just looked at his instagram photos.... Can't say I agree.