First pruning/wiring attempt

LeeInBama

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Hello from Bama! Thanks for all of the great advice I got on my first thread. Because of that, I got up enough courage and I just finished pruning and wiring my Serissa. I’ve posted some before and after pics. I would love to hear some input.
 

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Japonicus

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Hello @LeeInBama I kill indoor trees. My 1st indoor death was this tree of a thousand stars.
Then an olive tree, and a few orchids...

As for aesthetics of the wiring I would try to find a colour of wire that is
less contrasty to the trunk, which you have a bit of wire on but not bent.
That said, I'm assuming you're just anchoring the wire to the trunk, not
intending to bend it?

The 4th picture with the stairs and door/entry way as the background, the left main branch
appears to have the wire both, clockwise, and counterclockwise coiled as well as crossings.
You'll enjoy looking at this nice Serissa much more if you used a lighter copper coloured wire
and actually rewired it. Have many looks at this video link.

https://www.craftsy.com/gardening/classes/bonsai-wiring-essentials/35341

Sign up and add the free videotutorial to your cart.
You can pause the videos along the way and add your own personal notes.
That's handy when you're needing a quick reference for a specific task and not watch the entire
short film to find what you were looking to re-watch. Just hoover your mouse over the flagged
points on the time line and your note will pop up.
For instance, Lesson 4 Chapter 2, there's a balloon or flag like icon at 9:34 on the timeline.
When I touch it with my mouse pointer, my note pops up and says "Started wrong side, wire crosses".
So if I run into that scenario in my wiring, I click right there to go straight to that tutorial on how
to correct it. Pretty nice tool to bookmark ;)
 

Tieball

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Nice start. I think...that you need to bend the branches more. It appears to me that the wire is on...but if you trace over the tree branches they’re mostly still straight. Exaggerated bends are needed...nature will relax those exaggerations over time. Perhaps you have strong movement but the camera view hides that from my view. My comment is based on what I can see.

The wire color doesn’t concern me....it’s wire....everyone sees and knows it’s wire.

Keep up the good work and keep learning. Have an enjoyment of what you’re doing.
 

LeeInBama

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Thank you guys! I bent it as much as I felt comfortable doing on my first try. You’re correct Japonicus that I don’t want to bend the trunk. I’m mostly just trying to get the main branches going in the right (at least what I think is right for my vision) direction. You’re absolutely correct that I could’ve bent them a little more, and am thinking that I’ll try to bend them a little more tomorrow. As far as enjoying what I’m doing Tieball, I’m getting a lot of enjoyment from this hobby so far. Not just from the simple enjoyment of the trees themselves, but quite a bit from the people I’ve chatted with on this board.
Thank you guys for your kind criticism. Btw japonicus, I love the idea of pure copper wire, but what I had was what I used.
 

Tieball

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Thank you guys! I bent it as much as I felt comfortable doing on my first try. You’re correct Japonicus that I don’t want to bend the trunk. I’m mostly just trying to get the main branches going in the right (at least what I think is right for my vision) direction. You’re absolutely correct that I could’ve bent them a little more, and am thinking that I’ll try to bend them a little more tomorrow. As far as enjoying what I’m doing Tieball, I’m getting a lot of enjoyment from this hobby so far. Not just from the simple enjoyment of the trees themselves, but quite a bit from the people I’ve chatted with on this board.
Thank you guys for your kind criticism. Btw japonicus, I love the idea of pure copper wire, but what I had was what I used.
Good for you! Never lose sight of your goals...regardless of what people say...listening is good...learning is good....nice to hear other opinions even though critical. But follow yourself tuned into your tree objectives.

Copper wire. Hmmmmm....I tried some. I like the aluminum better...much better really. Now, I only use a fine copper wire for a guy wire to pull a branch down or in an overall direction as needed. Overall, I use an aluminum wire that has a brown color to it and it does tend to look better than the black wire. Wire is wire though...you won’t hide wire. However...really...I totally get the use of what you have. I do that all the time. It’s good.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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Definitely take the time to watch that Craftsy video by Colin Lewis. He is a good instructor, and this demonstrates wiring principles better than any other tutorial I’ve seen in my 25 years doing this. Go find some hackberry or oak sticks in the back yard and practice wiring.

As for copper wire, it’s much stiffer, and usually reserved for conifers. I would have used aluminum in this serissa too.

Finally, this was likely sold to you as an indoor tree, but serissa is actually hardy here. I wouldn’t set it outside now, since it is cold and you have just wired it out, but it should go outside in the spring. For now, keep it in a sunny window and don’t let it dry out over the winter. If is still alive this time next year, you may want to keep it outside unless it gets down below 25.
 
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Japonicus

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Btw japonicus, I love the idea of pure copper wire, but what I had was what I used.
Actually said "copper coloured wire".

https://www.dallasbonsai.com/product-p/100g-aluminum-wire.htm

http://www.stonelantern.com/Yoshi_Bonsai_Wire_from_Japan_400_Gram_Rolls_p/w400.htm

Sorry, I wasn't specific that aluminum wire is what I was eluding to
but would NOT recommend "pure" annealed Cu wire unless you were just comfortable with it
and perhaps it was all you had in a size that you needed. Proper sizing and step downs as you go,
may be subtle at first, but as you go in the hobby, becomes more necessary.
Anyway, there certainly is aluminum wire, that is copper coloured, lighter looking.
If colour did not matter, there would be no reason to make different cut paste colours either.
BTW I have and use the same cut paste you have on you couch there.
I also have a gray coloured clay type paste for maples.

Perhaps Brian made a point as to why mine died...I kept mine indoors...and without good ventilation
and lighting, just under a sky light in the bathroom.
I like serissa, and hopefully your new tree, will give me a jump start to try another :)
 

LeeInBama

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Thanks Japonicus! I gotcha regarding the colored wire. Much cheaper I would expect.
It’s good to hear that an experienced bonsai artist would use the same stuff I bought. It is the gray variety of the paste. I guess I did my research well. Also, I hope it does make you wanna try again!
Thanks again,
Lee
 

LeeInBama

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Thank you as usual for your excellent advice Brian. I will definitely watch the video. I was just about to leave for Home Depot for more wire. I’m glad I looked on here beforehand. It actually seems pretty happy where it is for now, so it’ll probably stay there until spring.

Thanks Tieball. Much appreciated.
 

LeeInBama

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Thank you JosephCooper. I actually did bend them a little more. Here are some pics.
 

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