No more procrastinating.

[Pat3222]

Hi,
Long time bonsai fan, expert procrastinator here. It's taken about three years and the other 5 lockdowns, but I've finally ripped the bandaid off and got to work on my humble collection of twigs in pots this time around. Here's some of what I've started on, feedback most welcome.
Cheers

[shibui]

They look really good
maybe now procrastinating about whether to show pics??

In case you are having trouble getting images to load, Image file needs to be under 1Mb to load on Ausbonsai but try to compress rather than reduce physical size.

[Pat3222]

Crepe myrtle from a garden nursery bargain bin.
The second tree I've ever wired.
Things I've learned -
Cut off more wire than you think you need, every time. As you can see, adding a second wire, not wiring to the tip or cutting it off and doing it again looks ugly, gave me less control and is expensive.
Wiring clockwise or anti makes a huge difference depending on the direction of the bends you make. Get it right, it stays tight, get it wrong and you end up with gaps like you've reused old wire.
Merging different wires is an art I need to practice, clunky in places.

For the tree itself, hopefully I'll get more branching closer to the trunk in time as it's quite sprawling. The bottom left branch looks much straighter in the pic. I'll come back in a week to see if I can get a bit more into the bends without breaking anything. I've since cleaned up what looks like powdery mildew.
Cheers

[Pat3222]

Melaleuca lanceolata. Got as a tube a couple of years ago and have given it the occasional haircut and pot on. Wish I'd wired it sooner as some nice natural movement in places and hardened off straighter bits that's hard to correct in others. Feedback welcome.
Cheers

[Pat3222]

Spot on Neil. I ended up sending the pics as a text so the phone did the work shrinking the file then used that version which seems to have worked.

[Pat3222]

Kunzea Ambigua, if I remember correctly. Another twoish year old tube that would have benefited from some earlier attention. It already had the 360 in the trunk when I found it at bunnings. The first left branch on the right trunk cracked, hopefully survives and if it does will try to move it off the same plane as the opposing branch.
Cheers

[Daluke]

I like the tree.

Just… I’d rewire. Make sure you don’t have any crossing over wires. You lose bend-ability. The wire over the top of another wire forces the under piece into the bark and damages it.

[Pat3222]

Thanks for the feedback Daluke. Whole thing or where x marks the spot on right trunk?

[Daluke]

On the Mel and K.

Just where there’s wire over wire. If unsure which way / how to position wire, use a shoe lace? Then when you get what to put where wire.

I’ve been there, done the Criss cross too so don’t feel bad. Your trees look great - nice and natural

[Pat3222]

Thanks again for the push and feedback, good to get out of bad habits early!!

Have fixed both, a good challenge to not cross and have the wire in the direction I needed.

Didn't need the shoelace but I've got a Cedar to do soon that will need three different gauge wires close together so might be handy then.
Cheers

[Pat3222]

Thuja plicata fastigiata. This was the first tree I ever wired. If I had more heavy wire I would redo some parts as it's not my neatest effort but you've got to start somewhere. Was $16 in a 20cm pot so nothing to lose and was a great learning experience. Feedback welcome and if anyone has one of these would appreciate any insight. Cheers