European Spruce #84

[Walter Pall]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing this!
Question about wiring the tree.
I can see in your pictures some wires are not tight on the bark, do you form a coil around the branches simply to control the angle and avoid damaging the bark on certain section?

In the beginning I wire everything. i wire all over the needles. The wire is tight to the needles. after a few years the wire I still on the branch. The needles have fallen off and the wire appears to be not tight . But it still performs the function. I do not care about meticulous wiring. It has to fulfil a function. It does not matter to me what they say. Only long term results count. When the wire finally gets off nobody knows that it looked ugly.



This is in sharp contrast to what they teach. One has to understand that this comes from Japanese nurseries. There purpose is not to produce art, but a product that sells. It must look as good as possible all times. Very neat wiring is important in this context. I do not produce trees to sell them. I have very few visitors to my garden. I do not exhibit trees - or very rarely. So why should I do things exactly as in a commercial bonsai nursery - meaning bonsai shop? Results count - not opinions.



I will never understand why innocent people are frightened off the art of bonsai by forcing them from day one on to do meticulous wiring on trees that will not be exhibited or will they be sold. The Japanese apprentices were forced that way and when they come back they think this they have to teach. They do nto understa ndthat the environment is very differrent and that it does not help their stuidents to get tortured. Instead I invite my students to try to understand the principles and then just start wiring and try to do a good job. As long as the wire does the function it is OK. Good looking wiring comes with long time practice. And it is not even necessary for most!!

 

[Vance Wood]

I cut the growth of this year so that what is left is the same length everywhere in general. I leave some long or longer if they fill a void. I cut off even old growth of those that bother me - too long anyway, dangling too much, standing up to much. I cut out "bird's nests" - meaning clumps of growth that look like bird's nest because it is much denser than the rest. II just cut out a part totally so that it looks loose again. I try to avoid any poodle look - meaning I avoid geometric cuts that look like a hedge - no straight lines - I cut in dents that just slightly look untidy on purpose.Sounds complicated?. Most learn it in an hour.

Thank you immensely for sharing, I think I now understand what you are doing.

 

[Vance Wood]

In the beginning I wire everything. i wire all over the needles. The wire is tight to the needles. after a few years the wire I still on the branch. The needles have fallen off and the wire appears to be not tight . But it still performs the function. I do not care about meticulous wiring. It has to fulfil a function. It does not matter to me what they say. Only long term results count. When the wire finally gets off nobody knows that it looked ugly.



This is in sharp contrast to what they teach. One has to understand that this comes from Japanese nurseries. There purpose is not to produce art, but a product that sells. It must look as good as possible all times. Very neat wiring is important in this context. I do not produce trees to sell them. I have very few visitors to my garden. I do not exhibit trees - or very rarely. So why should I do things exactly as in a commercial bonsai nursery - meaning bonsai shop? Results count - not opinions.



I will never understand why innocent people are frightened off the art of bonsai by forcing them from day one on to do meticulous wiring on trees that will not be exhibited or will they be sold. The Japanese apprentices were forced that way and when they come back they think this they have to teach. They do nto understa ndthat the environment is very differrent and that it does not help their stuidents to get tortured. Instead I invite my students to try to understand the principles and then just start wiring and try to do a good job. As long as the wire does the function it is OK. Good looking wiring comes with long time practice. And it is not even necessary for most!!

I agree Walter. I have kind of made a retreat into the shadows since so many apprentices returing from Japan seem to teach things contrary to what I have been taught and have learned. You cannot disagree with people today withour paying a personal price, or being ostracized from the bonsai community. I remember one individual on this site years ago that stated as fact that you cannot do bonsai unless you use akadama.

 

[Ugo]

In the beginning I wire everything. i wire all over the needles. The wire is tight to the needles. after a few years the wire I still on the branch. The needles have fallen off and the wire appears to be not tight . But it still performs the function. I do not care about meticulous wiring. It has to fulfil a function. It does not matter to me what they say. Only long term results count. When the wire finally gets off nobody knows that it looked ugly.



This is in sharp contrast to what they teach. One has to understand that this comes from Japanese nurseries. There purpose is not to produce art, but a product that sells. It must look as good as possible all times. Very neat wiring is important in this context. I do not produce trees to sell them. I have very few visitors to my garden. I do not exhibit trees - or very rarely. So why should I do things exactly as in a commercial bonsai nursery - meaning bonsai shop? Results count - not opinions.



I will never understand why innocent people are frightened off the art of bonsai by forcing them from day one on to do meticulous wiring on trees that will not be exhibited or will they be sold. The Japanese apprentices were forced that way and when they come back they think this they have to teach. They do nto understa ndthat the environment is very differrent and that it does not help their stuidents to get tortured. Instead I invite my students to try to understand the principles and then just start wiring and try to do a good job. As long as the wire does the function it is OK. Good looking wiring comes with long time practice. And it is not even necessary for most!!

Mr Walter,

Thanks for the honest answer.
Its interresting to see wiring of the tree from a different angle now.
I should not say that but I also have to be honest, I did took off wires few minutes after I applied it just because it didnt look good enought...
Reading your answer makes me wonder why exactly and the worst part is I have no idea except that it was not looking at what was in the book.

Without taking more of your time, I want to say you gave me a good advice for the future.

Thanks again

 

[Walter Pall]

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