Change of Style: Wiring Douglas Fir Tree [Bonsai]

creativetruth (67)in #bonsai • 6 years ago

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This tree is ready for a change-up. In this post I'll be showing some photos of how I changed the appearance of this tree from my collection using wire to re-angle various branches.

ID: 0010
Nickname: Christina
Type: Douglas Fir
Age: 4.5 years
Grown: yamadori (collected from my own yard)
Last repotting: late spring 2017
Wired: May 24, 2018

Check out past photos of this trees growth in my previous posts:

My goal for this tree has always been to maintain it as a Christmas Tree type shape so it can be decorate during the holidays. That means I want to keep it upright and conical in shape, similar to how a full grown tree would develop.

Since the young branches are mostly straight and vase-like heading into upward diagonals, I spent most of my energy attempting to wire the branches so they would have more curves heading to the sides around the tree.

The first thing I did was apply a wire around the trunk. Even though I want to keep this tree fairly upright, this central structure wire will help to ensure that this tree maintains the given shape, rather than bend from the weight of branches. Branch wires will use the strength of this structure wire to build on, rather than stretch the branches too forcefully along the branch to trunk joints.

Working the wire along branches is a very slow-going process, and requires much patience. Wires are arranged in a spiral around branches between needles. When wires are added, they must be arranged so they do not cross on top of existing wire, but instead running alongside in the same direction. Sometimes it is a puzzle to figure out how to do this the right way.

Needles have to be pinched off in a spiral shape along the branch to allow the wire a clear path. Each needle removed, I later discovered was also peeling off a thin layer of bark, like scales. Twisting the needle off, or plucking it against the grain sometimes helps prevent that not too much of the wood bark is torn off.

The branches and my fingers were soon starting to stain with trace amounts of pine juices/sap, and the flies were being drawn to the aroma.

Many of my two or three year old branches have Y-shaped branch divisions. There were at least two of these branch divisions that were more fragile than I realized. Even though the branches are rubbery and bendable, some of them split along the center of the Y-shaped divisions. In both cases, the living branches were able to remain flush against the wound. In one case I was able to use the spiral path of the wire to tighten around the two broken sides to help seal it together flat. When the tree attempts to heal the wounds, am hoping it will emit some sap form a protective hard crust to prevent the branch from drying out.

I do not have a cut paste (I'm really low on funds right now), and I could not even find any paper glue in the house, so I'm going to have to rely on the health and roots of this tree to adapt to these two branch wounds.

Here is the reverse view of the tree after being wired.

Not all the branches have been wired. Probably 80% of the tree was wired, with most of my efforts spent working on training the oldest branches. None of the top portion of the tree was wired. This makes the center space very open until new buds emerge next year. Younger branches are too delicate for me to handle without breaking them.

Right side view.

Left side view.

Top view.

Overall, I am happy with the new look. Branches are now heading into more evenly spaced areas. No more criss-cross branches heading upwards. Branch ends are now more even with the branch they came from, rather than heading into the territory of where upper branches are growing.

Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth.

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