Is always a complete wiring mandatory?

[Clicio]

I was wiring just the apex of a cascade JRP, and one of the guys around (Japanese) said "you have to wire the whole tree, even if it doesn't need it. If you wire only a couple of branches, the chance the whole tree stops growing trying to heal those branches are great; and the chance that only those wired branches die back is also greater, because the tree "decides" they are not worth the effort."
Does it make any sense?

 

[milehigh_7]

Nope there are entire schools of thought based on 'Clip and Grow'. For me it is about selecting the right tool for the job. Wiring is your best friend for shaping but it is not the only tool in the toolbox.

 

[0soyoung]

Yes, or you will be severely punished!!!

I think yes in the early refinement of the tree. As time goes on the branches close to the trunk are set and too thick/stiff to bend, so they aren't wired any longer - just out toward the ends to place the foliage.

 

[Clicio]

Wiring is your best friend for shaping but it is not the only tool in the toolbox.

Yes, but the question here is: do I have to wire the whole tree even if I am in need to bend just a couple of branches?

 

[Vance Wood]

Yes, but the question here is: do I have to wire the whole tree even if I am in need to bend just a couple of branches?

I suppose there are a couple of people that might tell you that but I see no reason as long as the un-wired branches are OK and not just obviously neglected.

 

[Clicio]

I suppose there are a couple of people that might tell you that but I see no reason as long as the un-wired branches are OK and not just obviously neglected.

Thanks, that's my reasoning also when wiring just a few branches; but after hearing what my friend had to say, I was in doubt about that.

 

[Johnathan]

I may be looking at this from an uneducated perspective of a less experienced bonsai practitioner, but..... how would the tree know what parts are wired and which aren't?

Sure if you're wiring to the point of strangulation I can see that kinda like the wire technique to do air layers, but I've always understood wiring to just be a way to hold the section in place until it sets that way.

I know that on conifers its actually preferred to let the wire bite in a little to encourage the setting of that area, but even then I'd think the tree would just send more resources to that area in an attempt to "heal" the section instead of just abandoning it.

 

[Vance Wood]

Thanks, that's my reasoning also when wiring just a few branches; but after hearing what my friend had to say, I was in doubt about that.

Maybe your fiend is wrong. Reasonableness seems to suggest that this is not necessary and that to wire the entire tree for the sake of one or two branches is nothing more than putting a tuxedo on a pig.

 

[0soyoung]

Maybe your fiend is wrong. Reasonableness seems to suggest that this is not necessary and that to wire the entire tree for the sake of one or two branches is nothing more than putting a tuxedo on a pig.

Vance, you are morphing into Yogi Berra!

 

[Clicio]

how would the tree know what parts are wired and which aren't?

Well, I think the reasoning goes to the fact that after wiring and bending, a lot of fissures will be on the wired branches.
And they must heal somehow.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Sounds like some Japanese wive’s tale, lol. That doesn’t seem legit to me. If your branches are dying it’s because you wired wrong or didn’t provide the right kind of aftercare, not because you didn’t slap wire on some other branch you’re not even bending for no apparent reason. Right?

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Well, I think the reasoning goes to the fact that after wiring and bending, a lot of fissures will be on the wired branches.
And they must heal somehow.

Sure, but if you’re not even bending the other branches, then it doesn’t matter if you placed wire on them or not. Just a waste of good copper IMHO. ?

 

[JoeH]

All I've wired is what I needed to. I guess I am doing it wrong.

 

[Lynn E]

Here's my experience-- Japanese white pine. An old import grafted on JBP. I wired 10 or 11 of the lowest branches to move them lower; let in some light. The tree began to abandon those lower branches in early spring and currently all of the wired branches are dead. Rest of the tree is fine. Never again.

 

[Clicio]

All I've wired is what I needed to. I guess I am doing it wrong.

I guess not!

 

[coh]

Here's my experience-- Japanese white pine. An old import grafted on JBP. I wired 10 or 11 of the lowest branches to move them lower; let in some light. The tree began to abandon those lower branches in early spring and currently all of the wired branches are dead. Rest of the tree is fine. Never again.

Never again what? I've done selective wiring on lots of trees and never lost branches because of it. Were the branches weak to begin with, lowering them might have made them even weaker. Did you break them, bend too much, lots of variables could be involved.

 

[Clicio]

The tree began to abandon those lower branches in early spring and currently all of the wired branches are dead. Rest of the tree is fine. Never again.

Ahhh, then he was not so wrong after all!
Interesting hearing your experience, @Lynn E !

 

[Adair M]

Ahhh, then he was not so wrong after all!
Interesting hearing your experience, @Lynn E !

As COH said, too little to go on with that anecdote. I’ve done partial wiring on dozens of trees with no ill effects.

 

[Johnathan]

Here's my experience-- Japanese white pine. An old import grafted on JBP. I wired 10 or 11 of the lowest branches to move them lower; let in some light. The tree began to abandon those lower branches in early spring and currently all of the wired branches are dead. Rest of the tree is fine. Never again.

Could this be something that is specific to pines only? Would you recommend wiring the entire tree just to accommodate 1 or 2 branches?

Well, I think the reasoning goes to the fact that after wiring and bending, a lot of fissures will be on the wired branches.
And they must heal somehow.

Would this not be similar to a windswept tree in the wild???

 

[Johnathan]

As COH said, too little to go on with that anecdote. I’ve done partial wiring on dozens of trees with no ill effects.

Well, I guess that rules out this being pine specific