wiring and bending a branch....

[paddles]

Bending (and not snaping) a 1cm diameter branch,, Ok, I know that in theory, I should wrap the branch etc, HOWEVER, in a question as to the wire, i do not atm have a supply of copper wire (and to be honest, I don't have the strength in my hands to bend it anyway) if I use a thinner (say 2.5mm aluminium) wire, how many strands would be necessary to successfully wire and bend the branch, and does a branch of that thickness need wrapping??? I unfortunately in my two attempts at wiring this tree, have broken one branch off at the trunk, and damaged another so badly that I had to cut it off close to the trunk with the hopes that it will push out a bud to develop a new branch.

Does anybody have photos please, describing how I should be wiring this branch... (miyagiman???) It is a plum (cherry I believe)

[Pup]

Paddles this is in the tips tecniques and advice. If you had looked there is a tutorial by Taffy on wiring. As for the size 2.5 will not bend the branch you want. You need to get at least 4mm wire.

Cheers Pup

[bodhidharma]

Nice to have you back on board. Pup is correct and there is another argument for a tutorial section. Two rows of 2.5 should do it and you could also consider using a tie off system by anchoring to a fixed point and pulling it to the desired position. Plums set fairly rapidly.

[shibui]

I actually prefer to use several wires to bend a tree. I reckon the extra wires give added support and reduce the chances of breaking the branch. As far as how many, I just keep adding another until it holds in place. As wire is circular in cross section 2 thin wires does not equal a single wire twice the thickness. You will need 4 x 2mm wires to give the same strength as a single 4mm wire.

A lot will depend on what sort of bend you want to put in. If just lowering the branch, a guy wire can help to hold down one that just won't stay.

Well watered trees tend to be brittle, letting the tree dry out a bit before wiring is supposed to make the branches easier to bend. It may also pay to bend in stages - bend as far as you think is safe one day then leave it for the cells to adjust for a few days or a week before trying to bend further.

Good luck with the bending.

[paddles]

Sorry Pup, you are right I didn't see the sticky.

Here are some photos, I used a combination of the 4mm wire, screws in the trunk, and ancoring the end of the wire into the polystyrine box...

hopefully the tree won't die!




another question I have, at the top, I have 2 branches comeing out close together, should I remove one?? (there were 3, and I did remove one of them already)

[bodhidharma]

Nice trunk Paddles. I guess it comes down to..if you can use it or not. At the moment it is thickening your new leader so it is not hurting anything. As Miyagi has once said you have to be careful that it does not sap the life from the leader as plums are prone to do. There will be a lot of clip and grow before branch selection and balance happens anyway so...no rush.

[Ron]

Graham Potter put a new video on YouTube today on wiring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHdGpf9AfQc

[paddles]

Graham Potter put a new video on YouTube today on wiring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHdGpf9AfQc

Thank you for that, that is a good video!

[Scott Roxburgh]

Paddles,

Nice stock, I would leave the two top branches to help thicken the new leader as bodhi said...

Check out the link below and click on wiring and styling, I have it and it has helped me enormously

http://www.bonsaiboon.com/pages/shopping.html