Wiring a cedar?

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LockingtonPrairie
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Wiring a cedar?

Post by LockingtonPrairie »

During the winter I bought a very young cedar that had not been wired, I put off doing so for lack of know how (also it looked like it was going to die for a while :palm: ) and now all over a sudden come summer it has sky rocketed off with growth and I am concerned I have left it to late to wire. I was wondering is it possible for a plant to be too old to wire, and if its not too late there is a large amount of new growth that i risk braking if I do so. If any one could offer any advice on how to tackle this delicately it would be greatly appriciated
Thanks Much
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by bodhidharma »

You can wire a Cedar anytime but be prepared to remove it and replace it several times as Cedars take a long time to set into place. A tree is really never to old to wire and have seen a 6th generation tree with wire on it.
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by Brian »

Yes, I agree with the above comment about cedars taking a long time to set in place. You also need to be careful not to snap branches as they just break clean off very easily when bending them.
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by Andrew Legg »

Hey LP,

If you can bend it by hand, you can wire it. If you can't bend it by hand you can still wire it, but it becomes more technical. Cedars are really really bendy, so they can be wired with fantastic success, BUT, as Bodhi says, they do take a long time to set. They also swell very quickly in the growing season, so I'll put money on it that you'll end up with some wire bite! :whistle: If you wire them, wire them loosely particularly at this time of year. This means using thicker wire as well. Finally, when you eventually take the wire off, they have a habit of relaxing any bends you've put into them, so wire into a shape that is a bit exaggerated, and then the tree will end up where you want it. Anther thing you can try is to cut the branch you want to wire at the back of bends (out of sight)(a cut running along the length of the branch with something like a scalpel of sharp blade). The scar healing process can add strength to branches ability to hold a new position. Of course, you'll need to make these cuts before you wire, so you'll need a plan.

Check out this link where Bodhi started with a tree of his and I follow thanks to inspiration from his post. It has some good info.

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=7742&hilit=bending+cedar

Cheers,

Andrew
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by reddoggy »

Andrew, are yours and Bodhi`s cedar still alive,for us to do the same,do not want to use a method that does not work or kills the tree. :tounge: :fc: :lost:
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by LockingtonPrairie »

cheers for the advice, might attempt wiring soon, gave the cedar a bit of a trim this afternoon and it all seems a bit less daunting now hahaha
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by Andrew Legg »

reddoggy wrote:Andrew, are yours and Bodhi`s cedar still alive,for us to do the same,do not want to use a method that does not work or kills the tree. :tounge: :fc: :lost:
:tu: Happy as Larry. Admittedly though, I've only done this once!
En.jpg
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Last edited by Andrew Legg on December 11th, 2012, 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Andrew Legg
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Re: Wiring a cedar?

Post by Andrew Legg »

Andrew Legg wrote:
reddoggy wrote:Andrew, are yours and Bodhi`s cedar still alive,for us to do the same,do not want to use a method that does not work or kills the tree. :tounge: :fc: :lost:
:tu: Happy as Larry. Admittedly though, I've only done this once!
En.jpg
Here it is now that I've had a chance to take a new photo this morning. Planting angle it not correct and I'm toying with the idea of bending it some more while all the tape etc is still on the tree.
IMG-20121212-00479.jpg
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