AusBonsai

Here is a cedar that I brutalised, did the heavy bending at the start of the year and repotted it about a month ago, its now full with soft new growth. I am pretty happy with this tree, just don't really like the spring like coil I put into it, but I hope it looks decent when I remove the wires in a couple of months (probably). This was my first time using raffia and an overall good learning experience, [album][/album]

Man thats some crazy bending . Did you split the trunk all the way to the top?

Keels wrote: ↑October 27th, 2022, 7:44 pm Man thats some crazy bending . Did you split the trunk all the way to the top?

I split it all the way until the first branch since the top was still quite flexible

Wow, you sure did brutalise that thing. Presumably the regular coil shape can be partially hidden with some foliage down the track. If so, you might have a keeper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have turned a telegraph pole into possibly an interesting bonsai, congratulations (its only time will tell).
Having bent a few cedars in the past myself I recommend that you leave the main wires (the industrial wire) on for at least two years. Cedars have a tendency to bounce back into their old positions so patience is the key. You can't expect instant results but if you persevere the operation will be a success and you will be rewarded.
I'm loving it and it would be great if you could keep us updated.

The split trunk should help hold this one in place much faster than usual. Scar tissue as it heals up will provide the strength to hold the bends.

A couple of things to watch out for from my experience with split trunk technique:
.Watch out for swelling above and below the binding. Trunk will thicken but restricted by wrap can't expand outward but at the ends of the wrap it will bulge out.
.Need quite a while for the split to heal properly and it does need to be wrapped tight to help fuse the edges, otherwise developing callus along the edges push the sides apart. I took the wrap off when I saw the swelling but cuts had not fully healed so new callus started to push apart after unwrap. In hindsight I would rewrap any areas that had not fused well but avoid the original limits if there's any swelling.

Crazy work! I need to get myself some trunk splitters to try something like this.

Apart from that... are you sure this isnt a Himalayan cedar? It has identical foliage to mine, and I have one of each.

Billnben__5 wrote: ↑October 27th, 2022, 7:36 pm Here is a cedar that I brutalised...

How's the tree going? Any updates?