AusBonsai

Hi All
Getting more daring with styling trees, anybody done this succesfully with a tea tree, just curios to see how the scaring would turn out?

Cheers
Ben

It will get rough bark all over so scarring will be covered and not a problem.

Good job.

Grant

Thanks Grant

Hi Ben
Forgive me for asking but what is the purpose of notching?
Damo

Damian79 wrote:Hi Ben
Forgive me for asking but what is the purpose of notching?
Damo

The notches remove the material and thus the compression force from the inside of the bend, which allows you to bend thick branches/trunks more than you normally could.

How does it affect the bark on the side of the trunk opposite the notches? I wouldve thought it would cause the other side to stretch more as the outside of the bend is often where breaks occur anyway?

MoGanic wrote:How does it affect the bark on the side of the trunk opposite the notches? I wouldve thought it would cause the other side to stretch more as the outside of the bend is often where breaks occur anyway?

My understanding of this is from a Ryan Neil video, though I can't remember which one at the moment. Looks like time to watch them all again.

As he explains, bending a branch puts a compression force on the inside of the branch, and a stretch force on the outside. While you are correct that the break usually happens on the outside of the bend, a large part of this is because the inside of the branch is compressed in that direction, and increases the force on the outside. By removing some material on the inside of the bend, that compression is reduced, and thus the stretch force on the outside of the branch is reduced as well. The outside ends up moving the same amount, but with less pressure coming at it from the inside, it is much less likely to break. Hope that makes sense. I'll try to post the video if I can figure out which one it was. Or you could ask him if you're going to the national convention.

MoGanic wrote:How does it affect the bark on the side of the trunk opposite the notches? I wouldve thought it would cause the other side to stretch more as the outside of the bend is often where breaks occur anyway?

Hey Mo that's why I don't take a chunk of the notch but use the thickness of the blade with a few cuts, my weapon of choice!! Cordless Reciprocating Saw, very precise in the cuts.