How to Wire a Bonsai

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The method of wrapping copper or aluminum wire around the branches or trunk of a bonsai tree to shape it is called wiring. Through wrapping the branches and trunk with a length of wire in just the right thickness, the basic style of bonsai is created. The formal upright style needs no wrapping, whereas the cascade shape calls for a few months of careful wiring.

You should be very careful when you are applying wire to the trunk or branches of a bonsai tree due to the stress it causes. If care isn’t taken, the tree could be killed or sections could be damaged. You can also wrap it too forcefully or even at the wrong time of year. This will result in damage from scarring that could take a long time to heal, or it could even kill the tree.

You ought to give yourself some wiring practice sessions using something like a plain wooden pole before actually working on your bonsai. This will help you in getting used to the wire while developing the agility to hang on to the branch and simultaneously wrap. When you sense that you’ve gotten the full procedure mastered through your practice sessions, and you aren’t moving anything that you shouldn’t be, then you can try the same thing with the bonsai tree.

The first thing that you must do is decide which wire will work best. The typical alternatives are either aluminum or copper, but many folks find that copper is more appealing to the eye throughout the prolonged bonsai training process. Because steel can actually be poisonous to a bonsai tree, you should avoid this kind of wire at all costs, and stick solely to annealed copper. It’s easier for novices to apply aluminum since it’s less rigid. Copper wiring tends to be a bit stiffer, however it can also scar the bonsai if you don’t apply it with care. Using wire that’s one third as thick as the branch it’s going to wrap is a basic principle with which to begin.

To guide a tree into the desired shape, wire is wrapped around the branches and trunk in such a way as to place pressure on the particular places to be reshaped. So, in order for the tree to alter its shape and not the wire, the wire must be more powerful than the branch or trunk.

Give yourself plenty of wrapping practice sessions making use of branches of a comparable kind of tree until you feel comfortable with the whole procedure. You should try out different wires on your practice branch to see the outcome before proceeding to the actual tree that you want to train. A variety of widths will be needed in order to wire the whole tree so try working with all of them ahead of time.

Wrapping is a talent that needs a soft touch, and it takes a while to learn. Don’t be discouraged, though, because if you are prepared to take the time you can learn how to do this, and you’ll be so pleased with the results.

To find a great bonsai tree that will grow and flourish in the environment you plan to grow it in, you have to know a few things first. From bonsai shaping to bonsai training pots, there’s a lot involved in this art.