How to determine when to wrap before branch wiring?

Jaberwky17

Shohin
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I would guess that the obvious answer is, if in doubt, wrap it. Or better safe than sorry.

I have (an assumed) California juniper that I'd like to style. The bottom left branch in the first photo is the one in question. It is the size of my finger in diameter and very flexible. However I suspect in order to bend it as severly as I intend, I will need to use raffia and underwire. The plan would be to wrap with raffia, put a length of copper wire on each side and then tape or wrap again before bending.

Are there any rules of thumb in terms of size of limb before more intensive wrapping is needed?image.jpgimage.jpg
 

Brian Van Fleet

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I probably wouldn't wrap the bottom one of the three that emerge together, but may wrap the top one if I was bending it. In either case, I wouldn't use the wire spine. I'd be more inclined to use heavier copper wire, and once it's wired, bend the branch by bending the wires with pliers. The heavy wire can also serve as multiple anchor points for guy-wires.
 

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