First wiring attempt ever, Japanese maple

[simonm]

hey, i have never done any wiring before and as yet dont have any bonsai tools but i gave it a go anyway,
i ended up using bits of chicken wire and will need to find the pliers somewhere and clean up the messy wire a bit but ye,
the tree is a bit sparse but some thing needed doing before it got to thick

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any advice,

sorry about the pics, they are not crash hot.

simon,

[anttal63]

Look what you've done now.

[bodhidharma]

Look what you've done now.

and here we go.

[simonm]

i hope i dont some how kill it...

[bodhidharma]

i hope i dont some how kill it...

Do not fear Simon maples are tougher than they appear to be. Keep an eye on the wiring as maples have a little growth spurt before they go dormant. You dont want to scar it to much as it takes a while to grow out on maples

[simonm]

oh, i also cut some of the top off, will it die back? i know it does with the leaves. just in case i left a bit so i wouldn't lose and branches

[Jamie]

being such a young tree i would think about cage wiring some movement in that trunk.... with some proper wire, not chicken wire its to thin and being galv will rust and if left to make contact with the cambium could cause problems, although lindsay farr asked a japanese master which wire he prefers to use and the answer he got wasnt as expected in being iron. so i guess it isnt as big a deal as thought, but personally i would prefer the aluminium or copper as it is designed for bonsai and will be much better in the long run