Spring is a time of year when bonsai grow fast. That’s cause for both celebration and caution. For trees that have been wired, spring is when the wires are most likely to cut in.
A casual glance at trees that have been wired often isn’t enough.
3 1/2 year-old black pine – the wire looks ok from here
The wire looks good up close too
Turning the tree around, however, reveals a spot where the wire is cutting in.
The wire is cutting in
It looks like the wire was a bit tight at this spot. To prevent it from getting any worse, I removed the wire.
Removing the wire one section at a time
The wire mark
I left the wire on the lower branches as these wires have yet to cut in.
After removing the main wire – the lower wires remain
The next tree I picket up also looked good at a glance.
Young black pine
It looked good up close, too, so I’ll leave the wires in place for now. I’ll check again next month as the tree is growing quickly.
Wires are tight but not digging in
I went though all of my young pines today and found quite a few with wires that needed removing.
Wire looks good on this side
On the other side, the top turn on the trunk is cutting in
Swelling around the wire
After removing the wire
As these trees are young, minor marks like this aren’t a significant problem. Letting the wire cut in a bit is good as it can help set curves and cause the trunk to swell – a good thing if this happens near the base of the tree and not higher up.
Some trees lost their shape a bit when the wire came off. The plan is to prune and re-wire in fall or winter.
Wire cutting in a bit
After removing the wire
More mature trees need checking too.
11 year-old pine
I’ll be decandling this tree in a couple weeks, but don’t want any further swelling on the fine branches so I removed the wire today.
After removing the wire
Some varieties thicken up more quickly than others – pay especially close attention to deciduous varieties like trident maple and conifers like Western juniper.
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africanbirding says
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
E & W Bonsai Club says
Reblogged this on Eastbourne & Wealden Bonsai Club.
Lyons Bonsai says
Reblogged this on Lyons Bonsai.
பிரபுவின் says
wow.superb post.
turoart says
Hi
i’m curious about what is the expected trunk movement in the big curve of this tree http://dupuich.smugmug.com/Bonsai/Development/Developing-young-Japanese-black-/i-LQfHrKw/0/S/20150602-57-backyard-S.jpg
When the tree grow this kind of curve will be smooth or it will look similar to the way it looks now?
Regards, pura vida!
Jonas Dupuich says
Ha – very good question about the big bend. I expect to remove the top part of the trunk and use one of the side branches to become the new leader down the road. The curve is there to bend the escape branch away from the branches I want to keep so they get more light and to keep the tree from getting tippy.
turoart says
thank you very much for the explanation,
please keep sharing your process in those early stages of development, there is little info about it