There is a place in bonsai for both techniques, I don't understand why there has to be some sort of division over this. Those who wire usually find it unnecessary to clip and grow. They can usually get where they want to go without the slower clip and grow technique, even though doing so will eliminate some of the artistic possibilities C&G can afford the artist that wire cannot usually produce. The C&G people cannot produce the kind of movement into a branch or trunk that can be obtained through wire but they are so religiously bound to the technique they find thinking about using wire almost as sinful. Sorry for the religion metaphor but in this case it is relevant and not proselytizing.
Couldn't agree more. I love clip and grow when it's appropriate, but there really are some things you're not going to be able to do without wire. So for me, a hybrid approach works best. Not sure why people need to be so black & white about things. There's a time and a place for everything. Just more tools in the toolbox ... use what is needed to accomplish the job at hand.
For example, I can't imagine growing either larch or maple without wire. The juvenile growth is long and straight, and wiring the tree tip to tip allows you to build a natural looking frame for the next seasons foliage to grow onto. No way you can do that effectively (or at least efficiently) without wire, imho.
But something like juniper procumbens? They grow so slowly, and branches stay flexible long enough that there's really no need to wire them very often. You can just gradually scale them up and build them into excellent raw material just by occasionally snipping a branch here or there. You occasionally want to wire them to set a direction, but then you can go long intervals (sometimes years!) without doing so. I love growing them this way!
So for me, it's both species dependent as well as situation-dependent.
I will say this, though - I think it's pretty limiting to
only know how to do one or the other. I can always tell when I get a tree that was developed by someone who focuses more on wiring and pruning than on growth. It usually takes me a couple of seasons to get those trees to come out of their shell. But when a tree is
never wired, it's usually not going to look nearly as natural. Real-world branches bend and twist, and wire is the easiest way I know of to easily re-create that. I find trees that are never wired can look kind of artificial.
Sometimes I'm amazed at the things people find to argue with each other about.