How to bend bonsai properly?

[Tntthunder]

So I think I've got wiring down pretty well, it's neat, it's not tight, not loose, I am doing the two branch/slingshot method, no crossing wire etc. I feel it's going great.

However when it gets to the bending part I am struggling a lot and lacking a lot of skill. When I bend the wire loosens, it keeps the branch/trunk in place but but had gaps now and isn't neat. It looks tight in some places, loose in others etc. What am I doing wrong?

Also how am I meant to hold the tree when I bend it to help stop it from breaking and tearing etc. Is there a specific place I hold? A specific place I push and so on. Any and all advice for bending will be great.

I am also kinda paranoid of killing branches as last year I wired and bent but all the branches died in the winter. But now my wiring is much better and I think I didn't protect them well enough in the winter...still makes me nervous to think it's not that and maybe I was too rough.

So far I have been practicing of freshly cut branches and on young junipers with thin and flexible trunks, with the trunks I have been doing crazy twists, up, down, left, right, forward and back and so on but in some part the wire stays, others it tightens and others it loosens. How do I get crazy cool bends people always say to put in, but also nice neat wire?

 

[dbonsaiw]

Bending with wire is a tactile thing - you just need to feel it and feel how far is too far. Snapping the tree is par for the course when figuring this out. That said, using a thicker gauge wire and doubling the wire provides more support for the bend. Bend the wire, not the bare tree - the force being exerted by the bend (the outside of the bend) should be on the wire. I personally have never used it, but using raffia can also provide the additional support needed and help prevent snapping. I've seen folks saw into larger trunks to get the desired bend, but that's above my pay grade.

When it comes to the trunks of deciduous trees, the advice I have received is to chop the trunk and grow a new leader to create the bends. This will also give you much better taper.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

Another note - you may be bending the branch in the reverse direction of the wiring which will lead to the wire loosening. If possible you should bend or twist the branch in the same direction as the wire was wrapped which will tighten as opposed to loosen. If you don’t want to tighten, take care to simply place the position of the branch, and not inadvertently twist it in the opposite direction of the wire wrapping.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

Double post

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi,
Also you can put your thumbs on the inside of the bend you are creating. That makes sure you bend the wire where your thumbs are, and the wire is on the outside of the bend etc.
Charles

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm of the school that thinks wiring is temporary and as long as it's functional and not damaging, it's good wiring.
If you take a close look at Bjorn and even Ryan "aesthetics matter and wiring should be aestheticly pleasing" Neil, you see they also leave some open bends here and there in the videos. The quotation marks are there because I've heard him say it multiple times and I fell backwards when a minute later I saw huge gaps. I believe Ryan to be a guy that rewires stuff because of gaps, and he tends to practice what he preaches, but it goes to show that even the cream of the crop sometimes bend in a different direction than the wire winds to initially.

A year later it comes off and nobody will remember it. What's left is a functionally bent branch.
One thing to look out for is pressure points around the gaps, if a gap is there and wire isn't pushing in, I see no need for a redo.

 

[Lorax7]

I'm of the school that thinks wiring is temporary and as long as it's functional and not damaging, it's good wiring.
If you take a close look at Bjorn and even Ryan "aesthetics matter and wiring should be aestheticly pleasing" Neil, you see they also leave some open bends here and there in the videos. The quotation marks are there because I've heard him say it multiple times and I fell backwards when a minute later I saw huge gaps. I believe Ryan to be a guy that rewires stuff because of gaps, and he tends to practice what he preaches, but it goes to show that even the cream of the crop sometimes bend in a different direction than the wire winds to initially.

A year later it comes off and nobody will remember it. What's left is a functionally bent branch.
One thing to look out for is pressure points around the gaps, if a gap is there and wire isn't pushing in, I see no need for a redo.

I’m right with you, man. I’ve never re-wired a branch because the aesthetics of the initial wiring weren’t pleasing. I suppose it matters if you’re going to exhibit the tree with wire on it, but for me personally, I’d just wait a year for the wire to come off and exhibit the tree then.

Truth be told, I’m not really all that into exhibiting trees anyway. Enjoying them privately in my yard and enjoying the meditative experience of working on them matters more to me.

 

[flor1]

I don’t care if my wiring looks like roadkill if it produces the result that I want.
Anything beyond that is just a bonus.

 

[Paradox]

Agree with the advice above.
You shouldn't be bending branches during the summer, you can kill them.