Raft with bike chain

[AndrewC]

Last year in one of my mass-buying adventures to Perth I picked up a juniper that I probably shouldn't have. It's not uncommon - a long, dead-straight trunk on a steep angle with heaps of branches coming off mostly in a single plane and a few out the 'front'. None at the 'back'. See picture:

raft before.jpg

I decided to make it into a raft style, to make use of all those branches as new 'trees'. I've been playing with bonsai for a while, but this was my first raft. I followed the instructions in Deborah Koreshoff's book, attaching a large wire to the top of the trunk to anchor the wires for the branches. But I didn't find it much use as an anchor - the wires I attached were slipping up and down along the anchor wire, and it wasn't too easy to work with. So I came up with the idea of using bike chain instead. Here are the results so far:

raft with bike chain 1.jpg

I attached the chain to the trunk using cable ties. I realised that bike chain is only flexible in two dimensions, so this approach would need to be altered or may not be suitable for a raft whose trunk has substantial movement in the third dimension. Then I started using the links in the bike chain to secure the wires leading out to the branches. I could use it for a wire going out to a single branch, and also snake the wire around the links when using a single piece for two branches (see next picture):

raft with bike chain 2.jpg

Overall, I am pleased with this approach. Here's a picture of the raft which will hopefully be setting roots in the poly box.

Raft in polybox.jpg

Cheers, Andrew.

[Craig]

crafty thinking Andrew, alot of effort for minimal return, IMO you could easily wire 2 opposite branches without passing underneath the trunk. hope it works out for you mate

[alpineart]

Hi Andrew , those cable ties will restrict the sap / nutrient flow and residual oil in the chain wont do the new roots any good either . . The trunk swells considerable when new roots appear so i would keep a close eye on those ties .

Cheers Alpineart

[AndrewC]

IMO you could easily wire 2 opposite branches without passing underneath the trunk. hope it works out for you mate

Thanks for the feedback, Craig. I wanted to move some of these branches around a fair bit, but I might be able to achieve this without the trunk support if I improve my wiring technique. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

those cable ties will restrict the sap / nutrient flow and residual oil in the chain wont do the new roots any good either . . The trunk swells considerable when new roots appear so i would keep a close eye on those ties .

Good points, Alpine. I might have done better tying it down with rubber strips or something else elastic. I did wash and scrub the chain first, but there are probably some oily residues still on it, so that's not ideal. This attempt was very experimental, I'll report how it turns out but it may be one of those things i only try once!

Cheers, Andrew.