Need help wiring Thuja foliage

[Mafu88]

This is my first post here on BN so...fingers crossed.

I am very new to bonsai and am looking for help wiring the foliage “fans” of a thuja occidentalis I purchased today. I worked on a juniper ‘nana’ and a baby blue spruce in the past few weeks and the foliage on those were fairly simple to wire. My results are not anything to be proud of yet, but in terms of applying some fundamentals I’ve learned from YouTube and a bonsai book, the spruce and especially the nana were simple to deal with. Thuja foliage is just so droopy and elongated. Any help on how to acquire a layered look with wiring the foliage, or at least directing me to a thread here on Bonsai Nut that will give me some tips. Thanks!

 

[jerzyjerzy]

There are excellent lessons on Thuja on Bonsai Mirai Live, including detailed wiring - https://live.bonsaimirai.com/
You can sign for a free 7-day preview and watch all Thuja lessons in a week.

 

[hinmo24t]

people hate on those trees but if you get an old cathedral looking thuja or just old thuja going theyre awesome i think.
simiilar to the vibe pines give me, thuja remind me of prehistoric landscapes. pines redwoods thuja etc

 

[HorseloverFat]

I love Thujas!

I could walk for a mile and see ONLY thuja in certain places around here.
They are both challenging and entertaining to wire...

“Rocket Foliage” damages easy...

If you flip it’s photo-sensitive planes’ polarity, the foliage (and eventually branch) will die. (Don’t flip the foliage upside-down)

Developing ramification and “pads” will be MUCH like junis..

Those recommended Mirai videos are great, too. I caught one for free.

if you get an old cathedral looking thuja or just old thuja going theyre awesome i think.

INDEED! They are under appreciated because they are EVERYWHERE.... but it you find interest/age.. they can go places..

I pulled two Thujas this year actually... rings put them AROUND the same age, 15-18 yrs, found growing on the same MASSIVE “nurse log”.. one is a tad under 1’ in diameter... and the other is 2”(soaking wet in boots)!...

With this “cedars”, Gotta find those.. “interesting cases”... that produce non-ordinary trees.

 

[0soyoung]

Use thin copper wire (#20/#22) and wire the green threads just like one would wire brown twigs/branches. Wire all the way to the tips if you want foliage like rigid boards. Adjust where the wire stops before the tips to tune the floppiness/naturalness of it.

The species is naturally graceful and elegant, but big. A good bonsai must be a larger sized one, IMHO (which isn't to say that one cannot learn with a thuja of any size).

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Use thin copper wire (#20/#22) and wire the green threads just like one would wire brown twigs/branches. Wire all the way to the tips if you want foliage like rigid boards. Adjust where the wire stops before the tips to tune the floppiness/naturalness of it.

The species is naturally graceful and elegant, but big. A good bonsai must be a larger sized one, IMHO (which isn't to say that one cannot learn with a thuja of any size).

Agreed! I'm growing a couple from seed and even though they're shohin size right now, I can't seem to imagine how I'd ever keep things to scale. These trees need to be beast size, otherwise it just doesn't work.
Still trying to get them to stay tiny though.

 

[HorseloverFat]

beast size

It will be beastly... someday.

 

[Mafu88]

Thanks for responses! I’ll definitely check out that website. I really like Thujas as well. They seem to not get as much attention from the bonsai community as other conifers, but like you said, they have the potential for looking pretty awesome. I’ll try and post pictures once I’m done. Thanks again.

 

[Cadillactaste]

When one takes lesser material...and groups it. It makes a bigger statement.

 

[sorce]

Them Nader's got mad nice ones.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Mafu88]

Finished a couple weeks ago but forgot to post pics. Second pic is right after I finished it and the first pic was taken this afternoon. The foliage was very tricky. I know I have a long way to go with bonsai so lmk what you think and any tips for the future.

 

[Mafu88]

If I covered this tree up with soil to about 4 inches higher than I have currently, and stripped a piece of the bark off each trunk all the way around...would I be able to develop any presentable nebari over the course of a few years?

 

[HoneyHornet]

Quick question why would you wire all the way to tip of foliage