Shimpaku Cascade

[aussie4bonsai]

This is the project I am working on; I bought this Juniper in a nursery for $50

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My main aim in design is to cut as little as possible as the cutting and refining can happen at a later date.

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The trunk and pot are held down with common trailer straps, this stops the trunk moving while bending. I do not use the ratchet strap for bending I prefer to pump and twist the trunk down by hand and the bend is held in position as the bend progresses with the strap.
When all three bends are done I remove the straps, ropes and bending clamps and wirer the trunks with 5mm wire then they are all tied down again. as you can see in the photo I bent the trunk over a PVC radius on a rock, you can use anything bottle or a flagon.

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Now all I have to do is wire up the pads, I will post photos when wired and potted up.
Barry

[Gerard]

Nice material for $50, interesting bending technique although a little difficult to see exactly what is going on.
I look foreward to seeing more pictures with the pads wired.

[kcpoole]

Verry good fro 50 bucks
Nice thick trunks and foliage. Be nice t see finished

Ken

[Jamie]

great stock barry $50 bargain

its always good to see different techniques, holding down the trunk/rootball is an excellent idea as the heavy bending can damage the root system from reefing the trunk around.


keen to see the pad work

[aussie4bonsai]

Well all the pads are finished and the cascade is in its new home.

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+Now some of are going to wonder what are those white things are sticking up and why, the white are cable ties and they hold a mesh under the pad this holds every think up and stop new growth growing or falling down, it also stops birds, possums, cats reshaping the pads for you.
The main branches are first wirer then I cut the heavy PVC gutter mess roughly to size then cable tie the mess to the larges branch that has been shaped and then I lay out all the branches on the mess and pining them down with U-shape wire that is twisted under the mess to holding them in position when finished I trim the mess to the shape that I want to grow the pads.

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[Andrew Legg]

Interesting technique on those pads Barry! Are you planning to put more shape into the trunk, or are you going to leave it fairly straight?

Cheers,

Andrew

[aussie4bonsai]

Hi Andrew
I have screw bending clamps on now and when it settles into its new pot and has new growth I will then start adjusting the bends.
Barry

[Andrew Legg]

Fair enough mate - it is looking good!