Bonsai Benches - North/South or East/West?

[Webos]

Re-arranging all of my benches at the moment in a attempt to gain more space which got me thinking whether or not there is a huge benefit in orienting my trees a certain direction.

What's the concensus?

Thanks

Adam

[Jow]

North south.

[kcpoole]

My benches are east west
My poles are aligned north south

Ken

[kez]

North south for me as well,

I feel like the direction of the area that your trees are in would also have an impact, maybe more so than the direction of the benches, for instance my backyard faces north and gets full sun all day, so I doubt that it would make any difference which way the benches faced in my yard. If i didn't get as much sun, I think it would be a different story

[wrcmad]

Mine are east/west (by default).
But I don't think it makes a difference - need to rotate plants on a regular basis to ensure one side (south) doesn't constantly live in a shadow.
The effect of not rotating becomes very noticeable once dense ramification is achieved.

[fossil finder]

Same here. Ideally have each tree permanently on a lazy susan turntable so tweaking orientation/aspect requirements of each tree can be achieved easily on a daily basis depending on plant needs and local conditions.

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[shibui]

Whatever way your benches run each tree will have a north(sunny) and south ( shady) side so you will have to turn them to get full sun exposure on all sides. Look at it from the point of view of a single moveable tree rather than one immovable bench.

[Jow]

But the million dollar question is......... Is it best to alternate the front and back of the tree to the south or the left and right sides??????

[Webos]

Just turn every tree in your collection 12 degrees per day. You'll get a full rotation every month... Spit roast bonsai!

[Mojo Moyogi]

I run East/West benches full sun location 8hrs+ in mid summer, I add shade if needed, it's difficult to add sun. For what it's worth, if your trees struggle in summer, perhaps consider what species you grow and how you pot them

But the million dollar question is......... Is it best to alternate the front and back of the tree to the south or the left and right sides??????

Joe, thinking strategically, branches are ideally shorter at the rear of our trees, does the East/West arrangement of benches work in with this? Obviously, rotation is still required, but how about a 70/30 split. You could consider improving reflected light or space trees further apart. I'd bet a lot of us suffer bench congestion.

Cheers,
Mojo

[Jow]

My answer was a little tongue in cheek. but yes east west should give more space (due to the walkway in between) and should therefore have trees casting less shade on one another.

[Steven]

The answer is easy. North, South and East, West. Just put in more benches and have them in all directions

Regards,
Steven