Does wiring put stress on the tree?

[JudyB]

Just as a general rule, I've always considered wiring to be stressful on the tree, (and read comments to that point) especially if performing bending on woody portions of branches, and trunks. Not so much for young growth, as long as it is watched for digging into fast growth. I would like to know how others view wiring, if it's negligible in it's impact to the overall work one can do in a year to a tree.

I have only noticed negative reactions to more sensitive trees, but I usually err on the safe side with those. Wondering if I'm being too cautious?

 

[jk_lewis]

As I answered elsewhere:

As in so many things bonsai, the answer is "It depends." The wiring, per se, is no insult. It is the bending that CAN become an insult, depending on how sharply you bend the branch.

Still, assuming you don't hear any tissue break, trees survive wiring and bending with little problem.

 

[tmmason10]

I was told that for instance, maples can be wired anytime. I will say though, I wired my arakawa maple in February and moved the branches around easily. I tried tweaking two of them in the past week and they have barely moved, and started to split. In my opinion, this means that late winter is a good time to wire maples. Although, people defoliate tridents and wire in early summer, so maybe there's no good answer?

Not sure if I helped this topic with my rambling.

 

[october]

Just as a general rule, I've always considered wiring to be stressful on the tree, (and read comments to that point) especially if performing bending on woody portions of branches, and trunks. Not so much for young growth, as long as it is watched for digging into fast growth. I would like to know how others view wiring, if it's negligible in it's impact to the overall work one can do in a year to a tree.

I have only noticed negative reactions to more sensitive trees, but I usually err on the safe side with those. Wondering if I'm being too cautious?

Hi Judy, although wiring can cause some stress, I do not consider general wiring a full "insult". It is fine to wire and repot. This is not to be confused with major bending. Also, you would not want to wire a tree after it's root pruned and repotted. Not necessarily because its an insult, but because you don't want to be pulling on the tree and disturbing the roots.

It is not the wiring that is the main issue, it is more the drastic pruning done first. If you get rough material and completely strip the material down and prune hard to start the tree on it's bonsai journey then wire, that is all one insult. However, if you have a tree that is near finished and all it needs to some wiring on sections of the tree, In my opinion, that is not an insult. I usually wire a tree then repot. Once again, not heavy pruning with wiring though.

This year, I wired both my pines and then repotted. On a couple of my other trees, I just repotted. However, I may be wiring them later in the season after they have acclimated to the repot.

Rob

 

[Beng]

Depends how big the bend is and how much stress you put on the branch. If your just detail wiring it will have very little impact on the tree. If your using rafia and doing major bends you may want to treat the tree as you would a repotted tree of the same species.

Ben

 

[Stan Kengai]

Many years ago, I got about 10 JBP seedlings to plant in the ground. Just before planting out, I wired a few with a moderate amount of movement, a few more with drastic bends, and left the others unwired. The trees with the drastic movement barely grew the first year. The trees with moderate movement grew . . . moderately, and the unwired trees all grew significantly more than any of the wired trees. I understand this wasn't exactly a scientific experiment, but I thought that the correlation between wiring and growth was unmistakable. As others have stated, wiring obviously does stress plants and the more bending, the more stress.

FWIW, I no longer have any of those trees, but I did learn some valuable lessons from them.

 

[Adair M]

Judy, in answer to your question "is it stressful?", I would have to say yes. The question you are implying, is "is it harmful?". And the answer to that is, if done correctly, no.

Trees respond to stress by growing. Wiring with no bending would not be stressful at all. It's the bending that creates the stress. We apply wire to bend the trees to simulate what happens to the trees in nature. Heavy snows weigh down conifers in winter. A full leaf load weighs down deciduous trees in summer. Both of these events "stress" the trees. And they respond by putting on more wood, repairing the micro tears these stresses invoke.

Nature EXPECTS life to be stressful, and has mechinisms in place to counteract the effects of stress. Astronauts in space in weighlessness experienve significant bone loss because their skeletons are not subjected to the "stress" of gravity. Trees are usually subjected to the "stress" of the wind blowing. They sway back and forth in a strong wind. My father in law planted some young landscape trees, and was disturbed seeing them sway in the wind, so he supported them with a very stong pole buried in the ground. No more swaying. After a couple of years, he removed the pole. Guess what? The very next strong wind snapped the trunks! Yes, the trees had grown, and produced woody tissue developing trunks, but the trunks weren't strong. The lack of "swaying" while they were developing made them weak.

So...

Learn to wire, Judy.

 

[fourteener]

First of all I think it depends on the tree. Some are more fragile than others. The others factors that add to the issue are...

1. The cambium layer being cracked and the tree needing to find a new route to support itself.
2. The amount of bending can be very stressful. Just a little movement is really not a big deal.
3. When I do a serious restyling I am also taking off a good amount of foliage.

All that being said... Big bends with a lot of foliage reduced is the one insult for the year. Unless its a tamarack, then you can do whatever you want!!

 

[Poink88]

Big bends with a lot of foliage reduced is the one insult for the year. Unless its a tamarack, then you can do whatever you want!!

Or a boxwood? I've done major bends, repot, pruning etc. on several of mine in a year and none skipped a beat (yet).

I agree...it depends on how drastic the bends are and the species. Some are more pliable than others or can redirect and heal faster.

 

[Poink88]

BTW, some may think I am crazy (nothing new right?) but whenever the bark is damaged during bends, I apply cut paste on to it. I believe it will help promote faster healing by preventing drying.

Damage is usually confined to the phloem and cambium area but having the xylem protected...should help rolling of new bark go faster. Could be blessing in disguise too since new growth once lignified will help the bend to set faster. JMHO

 

[Beng]

BTW, some may think I am crazy (nothing new right?) but whenever the bark is damaged during bends, I apply cut paste on to it. I believe it will help promote faster healing by preventing drying.

Damage is usually confined to the phloem and cambium area but having the xylem protected...should help rolling of new bark go faster. Could be blessing in disguise too since new growth once lignified will help the bend to set faster. JMHO

I do the same Dario either wood glue or cut paste on cracks.

 

[Bill S]

Junipers at this time of the year have the strong sap flow , and the cambium can be spun around the branch, which is not a good thing.

 

[JudyB]

So...

Learn to wire, Judy.

So...
I know how to wire, Adair. (there's plenty of wired up tree pics in my threads....) I do a lot of it, and consider it to be the thing that has most changed my trees, (and me).

The reason for the question, was another thread that had a newly repotted, and big root reduction done- the person was planning on doing wiring. The tree is of a type that doesn't like root disturbance, so I suggested that maybe waiting on the second insult (wiring) for a year. Another respondent's take, was that wiring isn't considered a major insult, and that wiring would be fine.
So as a learning thread -I decided to ask about the subject and to see what other peoples experiences have told them.
I have found that on certain trees, that it can be too much in one season, to do both. In particular my large beech, I repotted in the spring, then did an all over large scale wiring in the winter. (Year before last, not this past season) I removed the wire before the spring bud unfurling, and although I didn't have any dieback, I did notice a lack of vigor. I've let the tree recover, and now it seems to be back on track.

I guess that what I have found is that there is a perception difference between wiring and bending. When I wire, it is mostly to do some pretty good bends, and unless it's a green branch, I would consider that to be where you would cause some injury (not harm) to the tree that it would then work to repair.

 

[Dav4]

a newly repotted, and big root reduction done- the person was planning on doing wiring.

One thing I'd like to add with respect to the above quote is that, if you are going to wire and re-pot in the same season, it's generally much safer and easier on the tree to wire first, then re-pot. The root system will heal much faster if the trunk, canopy and branches aren't being jerked and bent here and there for a week while the wire is being applied and placed....the tree really needs to be left alone with no disturbance at all post re-pot for a few months minimum...

 

[fore]

Many years ago, I got about 10 JBP seedlings to plant in the ground. Just before planting out, I wired a few with a moderate amount of movement, a few more with drastic bends, and left the others unwired. The trees with the drastic movement barely grew the first year. The trees with moderate movement grew . . . moderately, and the unwired trees all grew significantly more than any of the wired trees. I understand this wasn't exactly a scientific experiment, but I thought that the correlation between wiring and growth was unmistakable. As others have stated, wiring obviously does stress plants and the more bending, the more stress.

FWIW, I no longer have any of those trees, but I did learn some valuable lessons from them.

Ditto Stan. 2 yrs ago I planted JBP seedlings. I bent them all, and this spring, they almost looked dead. But yest. I noticed they are greening up finally, and pushing a candle or two. I was quite surprised at how this "insult" really effected the growth and health of the seedlings.

 

[fore]

One thing I'd like to add with respect to the above quote is that, if you are going to wire and re-pot in the same season, it's generally much safer and easier on the tree to wire first, then re-pot. The root system will heal much faster if the trunk, canopy and branches aren't being jerked and bent here and there for a week while the wire is being applied and placed....the tree really needs to be left alone with no disturbance at all post re-pot for a few months minimum...

I agree Dave, this is the advice I think you gave me on a H. Depot yew. But l decided it was better to get it into good bonsai soil and wait a yr to prune/style/wire. So one must think what's best for the tree's health first.

 

[Adair M]

You've answered your own question, Judy!

Certain species tolerate bending more than others, as you've found out. Generally speaking, the conifers tolerate it better than deciduous ("hardwood") trees. Deciduous trees are usually developed by growing the structure into them. We wire, but only when the new shoots are young, and have not lignified. The wire is left on for a month, maybe two, then removed. The new growth is then cut back. Inducing new growth, which is allowed to extend, then wired again.

Bending old deciduous branches is less productive.

Also, you said you wired your beech in the winter. That's when the tree was dormant. What is the branch going to do when it's dormant? The sap is down... it's just going to sit there. When spring comes, the sap flow has been interrupted, so it will be slower to start. Over the winter, water has gotten into the microcrackes you made when you wired and bent, probably froze, so it caused more damage.

Now consider wiring in the spring... The beech has good vigor with new flexible shoots. You apply the wire, the stems are still flexible, so little (if any) damage occurs, but what damage does occur is easily healed by the tree since it's actively growing. Putting on new cells. These new cells will now growing in the curves you want. So, it's getting shaped as it grows. Of course, the stem thickens quickly at this time of year, which is why the wire can only be left on for a month or so. But, the benefit is it's actually doing what you wanted it to do, shaping with minimal damage and stress to the tree!

I'm sorry my comment "Learn to Wire" came off harshly. I had to leave the keyboard... "Wiring" is more than just spinning on the metal, it's knowing when to do it, why you're doing it, how often to do it; there's "Development wiring", "Detail wiring", "Show wiring", etc.

By the way, I THOUGHT I knew all about wiring. I'd been doing bonsai for 40 years. But when I started the Intensives with Boon, I found I didn't really know wiring. I'm still learning...