Garden Tips & Resources

Many bonsai trees get their graceful shape through a procedure that comprises wrapping aluminum or copper wiring from the bonsai’s base and around the branches. In order to create basic bonsai styles, you must wrap the trunk and branches with the proper thickness and length of wire. The formal upright style needs no wrapping, but the cascade style requires many months of extensive training.

You should be very careful when you’re applying wire to the trunk or branches of a bonsai tree due to the stress it causes. Doing it the wrong way can mean, if worse comes to worst, a dead tree, or more often a cracked branch. You can also wrap it too forcefully or even at the wrong time of year. This can cause lasting damage to the tree, or might even kill it outright.

You ought to give yourself some wiring practice sessions using something like a plain wooden pole before actually working on your bonsai. You’ll get experience holding the branch while simultaneously wrapping from doing this. When you are sure that you can hold the branch with one hand and wrap it with the other, without bending or pulling at anything but the wrapped portion, you can start working on your bonsai tree.

The first thing that you will need to do is choose which wire will work best. The typical alternatives are either aluminum or copper, however many individuals find that copper is more appealing to the eye throughout the drawn out bonsai training procedure. When wrapping a bonsai, utilize annealed copper only, as steel wire is toxic to a few species. Beginners find it easier to use aluminum since it isn’t as difficult to bend. Even though copper is usually less flexible, it can scar the tree if it is not wrapped properly. Using wire that’s one third as thick as the branch it’s going to wrap is a basic guideline with which to begin.

To guide a tree into the desired shape, wire is wrapped around the branches and trunk in such a way as to put pressure on the particular places to be reshaped. So, in order for the tree to alter its shape and not the wire, the wire will need to be stronger than the branch or trunk.

Try wrapping branches from similar trees to enhance your skill and dexterity. You should try out different wires on your practice branch to see the outcome before proceeding to the actual tree that you want to train. For doing the full tree a number of different thicknesses will be required and you should practice using each and every of them.

Wrapping is a talent that needs a soft touch, and it takes a while to learn. It can be done by any focused practitioner, though, and the time and attention required will pay off.

The cultivation of bonsai trees has been an Asian tradition for centuries, and is now enjoying popularity in western society as well. It’s important to learn some bonsai basics so you can watch your tree flourish. Check out Bonsai Trees for Beginners to get an introduction to this fascinating art.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

2 Responses to “Bonsai Wiring Basics”