AusBonsai

I got a heap of seedlings from Shibui last year and twisted them all up.
Repotted a few weeks ago

I twisted up a few of my tridents and Japanese maples. Not sure how they will turn out but i guess we will find out. I went for more rounded twisted circles on most of the Japanese maple seedlings. Will see how that turns out.

Nice Keels, I try to avoid the corkscrew type thing but it’s amazing how they just end up that way ... randomness is pretty hard to make convincing when it’s contrived! Watch for those wires digging in, when Spring comes I think they’ll fatten up quickly. Good luck with em!

An update 6 months or so later ...
I cut these back today, for maybe the 4th time I think. They are looking good - no casualties and there has been a lot of thickening up in that time. I have found that tridents grow so quick that it is difficult to keep the wire on for long enough to hold the bends before it begins to cut in. Unfortunately I haven't put enough focus on re-wiring to maintain shape so they have straightened out somewhat as they reach for the sky but there is still enough undulation and movement in them to make these interesting I think. I reckon it's a pretty good result for that amount of time so I'm happy with them. I'd say once they drop their leaves and I can get a nice view of the silhouettes I'll look to cut back some and maybe re-wire/motivate a few others to compress a little. They still seem to have some give in them despite the thickness, not sure if this is because they were already wired when thin or what?
I'm not complaining...

Definitely some promising bends in those little trunks.

Did you notice the trunks straighten as you removed the wire?
Only asking because I know there is a tendency for trees to straighten out as they thicken - not because the trunks actually straighten up but because trees thicken up more on the inside of bends and less outside which means that the trunk gradually begins to get less curvy as it thickens. I assume this is for efficient transport of water, etc from roots to leaves - straight line being the shortest distance between 2 points.
Way down inside is the original trunk, still just as bent as you originally made it.

All this means that, when you are planning a thick, curved trunk, you will need to make the seedling bends far more exaggerated to allow for the natural growth.

shibui wrote:Did you notice the trunks straighten as you removed the wire?
Only asking because I know there is a tendency for trees to straighten out as they thicken - not because the trunks actually straighten up but because trees thicken up more on the inside of bends and less outside which means that the trunk gradually begins to get less curvy as it thickens. I assume this is for efficient transport of water, etc from roots to leaves - straight line being the shortest distance between 2 points.

Hi shibui, any movement in the trunks after I removed the wire was marginal, I have noticed trees “straighten” as they put on girth in the past, but I thought they were literally straightening as they developed - had no idea it was due to the reasons you mention above so thanks! I did mean to re-wire them earlier but I have been quite inundated with a lot of “unbonsai” related stuff over the last month or more leaving me with not enough time to concentrate on the important things... Hoping to rectify that soon.

Now I get it .... I went to some effort wire a Japanese Maple forest sometime back - one wiring, reasonably subtle bends, wire cut off before it cut in .... bends nearly gone 6 months later. Now I understand why.... R3 at least you started with more aggressive bends... smart play.


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Another fortuitous think I have noticed is that previously bent trunks are far easier to bend again in future than similar thickness trunks that have never been bent. Maybe that's because the inner fibres have been damaged and remain flexible? Whatever the reason I can usually increase the bends easier than putting in new ones.

shibui wrote:Another fortuitous think I have noticed is that previously bent trunks are far easier to bend again in future than similar thickness trunks that have never been bent. Maybe that's because the inner fibres have been damaged and remain flexible? Whatever the reason I can usually increase the bends easier than putting in new ones.

That's my observation also, and what I meant by this :

Ryceman3 wrote: They still seem to have some give in them despite the thickness, not sure if this is because they were already wired when thin or what?

I'll get around to re-wiring at least a few of these soon, I think if I was wiring these now for the first time at the thickness they are, the amount of movement would be minimal and the effort it would take would be much greater. Thanks for your insight.