Greetings from Germany on a beautiful sunny day

Just doing some sweet bonsai training today. Found this $9 cypress today and will just practice my skills.
Sending out some greetings to my fellow bonsai nerds. :evergreen_tree:

盆栽に一目ぼれをしてしまった

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Get a large paperclip. Fold it in half. Straighten it out a little. Then wrap your tree in raffia and make it into that.


(this was before I learned how to wire :laughing: )

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LOL.

That bend is crazy. Don’t think my tree could handle that. Was it straight beforehand?

This is how far I got. I take it easy :woozy_face:

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Your tree needs a more daring design!

My tree was sold at a local nursery as a “Bald cypress that doesn’t produce knees” but I think it was a Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum). In any case, the wood of a taxodium that size is very flexible and will even collapse (squish) under a hard bend rather than snap. The tree was 5-6 feet tall when I bought it. I wrapped it in vet-wrap before bending.


I got this far and had a mental snap and started bending it like a lunatic.

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Yeah. That is amazing. Didn’t know the bark could handle that.
I took your advice and tried my best.
My wiring is horrible. :sweat_smile:

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Little update :woozy_face:

Need to refine my wiring techniques. It’s nothing like Ryan’s … not even close. So frustrating to see it done perfectly and then ending up having lose and overlapping wires. :sweat_smile:

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Man. This is hard work :flushed::sweat_smile:

Loving it still though

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Hahahaha I love this thread :joy: The encouragement of @BillsBayou actually made you @philiphartmann to go from reserved to wild! Thumbs up

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You know, that is really looking better too. Twist the trunk with the wire as you bend to tighten the hold :smiley:

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Haha yeah. Exactly. It was an awesome suggestion.
I love where it is going. Though I think I am reaching the limit of how far I can go with the trunk. There are places where the bark is already splitting slightly.

Does it sound like a good idea if I leave the tree for a year and than push its limits again?

It’s night now I’m germany. I will continue tomorrow and will keep you guys updated.

Feel free to leave comments and critiques for me to integrate tomorrow.

Hey Jimothy. That’s really great advice. I was assuming the same while I was doing it.
So to understand you correctly I would bend the tree with every 2-3 turns of the wire and continue step by step. That should ensure the wire is always connected to the trunk?!

I really need up my wire game. Will watch the wiring video tomorrow. Probably will explain a lot what I missed so far.

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Watch the videos, and practice again. Then watch the video again and practice again. And repeat.

The videos are a great start, but there is nothing like hands on experience. And make sure to watch Ryan’s off hand. He mentions it a lot, but it really is the most important hand.

It’s helped my wiring go from completely abysmal to only moderately embarrassing.

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Lol hope it will do the same for me :sweat_smile:

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https://live.bonsaimirai.com/library/video/structural-wiring

Also try a guy wire to secure and maximize the bends. If you have galvanized steel wire is best, but copper or aluminum will work. Tie that baby down!!
Have fun, learn lots, share with others.
:thinking:

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Yeahexactly that stream is what I wanted to watch now that I messed up all the wiring on my tree :sweat_smile:

But i have to start somewhere I guess.

Thanks for the help :slight_smile:

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I think I am done.

My wiring is an utter mess.
Haha.

But I am actually proud. This is my fourth bonsai in total and my first actual “big” (rather medium sized) bonsai.

What do you guys think?


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An alternative Front…

I like in this one that the round trunk is on a 3D plane rather than on a 2D plane like in the first version.

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Good work! Now comes the hardest part of all: Leaving it alone. You’re going to want to tweak and change branch placement. No! That’s next year. So hard to not do anything.

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Haha yeah. It truly will be a challenge.

But what would be the next steps in care and handling? I guess reporting in early spring next year?

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I like the spooky creeping pattern of the branches. Reminds me a bit of the weeping tamarisk stream:
https://bonsaimirai.com/node/716

Your going to love getting to grips with the wiring.
Before i really started learning i was trying to wire with coated steel…and wondered why i couldnt get the hold i wanted :confused:

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