Page 77 - Ebook bonsai for beginner

Bonsai wire, and a wired branch to be bent downwards.

How?

Try to wire two branches of similar thickness located near each other with

one piece of wire (double-wiring, see photo 2, above) where possible,
and wire the remaining branches separately (single-wiring). Wire all the
branches you intend to shape before actually starting to bend them.
When wiring an entire tree, work from the trunk to the primary branches
and then start wiring the secondary branches. As a rule of thumb, use
wire of 1/3 of the thickness of the branch you are wiring. The wire should
be thick enough to hold the branch in its new shape.

Both wiring techniques will be discussed in more detail now and
information about how to safely bend the wired branches will be provided

at the end of this page.

Double-wiring a Bonsai

1. First select the pair of branches you will wire;

these have to be of the same thickness and
located near each other on the tree. Do keep in
mind that the wire should wrap around the trunk
at least once (preferably twice) so the wire will
not move when bending the branches later on.

2. Now cut off the right length of wire to wrap
around both the branches.

3. Start with wrapping the wire around the trunk and proceed with the first
branch. Wire from the base of the branch to the very tip before starting to
wire the other branch. The wire should be wrapped around the branches

at an angle of 45 degrees; this way the wire will enable the tree to grow
thicker while remaining its new shape.
4. When you intend to bend a branch downwards directly at the trunk

make sure the wire comes from below. The wire should come from above
when bending a branch upwards.

5. After you have wired all suitable pairs of branches continue wiring the
remaining branches using the single-wiring technique.

Single-wiring a Bonsai