juniper tree bending

[dragonland_88]

hey guys i've been bending my juniper for about a month and a half now, today was the second time tightening the wire for more bend and the bloody wire snapped and the juniper sprung back. so instead of using wire this time i used heavy and long cable tie.

Do your think this is sufficient enough to hold the bend because i tried about 6 smaller cable ties and as i was tightening the cable ties broke, the heavier and larger cable tie has bent the branch a fair bit but will it hold????? and also i dont think i will get much more tightening from this cable tie for the next round of bending.

what are your thoughts......

thanks heaps chris.

[dragon]

hi dragonland
you got any pictures of what you have done to the juniper as a picture tells us how far you got with the tree
also have you tried to wind thicker wire around the branch and bend that way
how thick is the branch that you want bending
cheers dean

[Craig]

Hi Chris, alot of people use turnbuckles and heavier gauge wire to pull down branches, or just use 2 wires,,,,, Regards Craig

[NBPCA]

hey guys i've been bending my juniper for about a month and a half now, today was the second time tightening the wire for more bend and the bloody wire snapped and the juniper sprung back. so instead of using wire this time i used heavy and long cable tie.

Do your think this is sufficient enough to hold the bend because i tried about 6 smaller cable ties and as i was tightening the cable ties broke, the heavier and larger cable tie has bent the branch a fair bit but will it hold????? and also i dont think i will get much more tightening from this cable tie for the next round of bending.

what are your thoughts......

thanks heaps chris.

Use Copper wire, not aluminium and it will hold if the gague is heavy enough.

Grant

[kcpoole]

Use multiple lengths of wire if on is not stiff enough. You will do less damage to the tree and shoud hold better

Turnbuckles, Cable ties, String all have a place in the bending arsenal

Ken

[Scott Roxburgh]

I agree with Grant, copper wire works wonders. I have used offcuts of electrical cable separated and annealed it hardens as it gets bent so works great.

Also, if you are having trouble with the wire breaking when twisting it remember to pull, then slowly release as you twist it tighter.

I have also found that one larger gauge wire is far better than two of half the size.

[dragonland_88]

here you guys these are as good a picture as i could get there is too much foliage to lift to see it all.

I've added what i wouldn't mind getting out of this bonsai.

and note that the pictures i have taken are not going to be the front of the bonsai i find it far to bare in branches.

[bodhidharma]

Looks good so far D88

[dragonland_88]

thanks for all the advice guys. but what are your thoughts on the cable ties.

do guys think it will break when i try to tighten it in about 2 weeks.

and what are your thoughts on the tree???

thanks again guys

[Tony Bebb]

Hi Chris

I think the cable ties will break as they are plastic and will weaken in the weather as well as with the twisting. They may hold if they are the really thick ones. As mentioned copper wire os turnbuckles are best for this purpose.

As for the tree and the design. The tree is nice and healthy and good workable material. Are you planning on bending the whole trunk over and down as the cascade, or using the long branch as the cascade and the trunk as the crown? At the moment it is an upright with a cascading branch, and if you are using the branch as the cascade and keeping some trunk as the crown it will always be viewed as an upright with a long cascading branch. I am a stickler for the trunk to cascade as the trunk determines the style. That is why I was so persistent in restyling the Juniper in the post 'And it only took 8 years' in this same section. Not saying you cannot do it, but I wouldn't and am just giving you my opinion.

It will be possible to bend the trunk all the way over, but really good overall movement will be difficult. Or you could cut the trunk off and jin it to the first branch and use a smaller branch off that branch to be the crown. The cascading branch would be flexible enough to be bent for nice movement.

Best Regards

Tony

[dragonland_88]

it's hard to say i'm not sure because i would love to do the tree like the first picture i posted, but the cascade branch is really low so i'm stuck i guess i/m just going to have to wait and see and then try something.

do you think i could pull the 1st picture off?

what do you think is best for the tree?

thanks for your advice.

[Tony Bebb]

I think you could get something close to that picture. I don't think the first branch is too low, in fact I think is at a good height and angle for a csacade. I notice in the pics there is a small branch just above that main branch. If you cut the trunk back in stages it would be possible to use that branch as a crown combined with some dead wood and achieve the basic design. To cut it straight back to that branch in one go might contribute to the death of that branch.

Tony

[dragonland_88]

thanks man i will keep it in mind.