What the demos don't tell you.

[MichaelS]

More old needle pulling. This probably should be done every 2 or three years on this (J ''blue alps'') and procumbens and rigida etc. They really hang on tight and won't drop naturally until about the 4th year. Removing them helps with any potential back budding and makes wiring a lot more pleasurable too. It's one of the most time consuming things. Much longer than unwiring. These two activities are the most boring things to do. If you don't find them boring, you haven't done enough.






The best part is pulling off the last one.







So apart from a few minor details that's pretty much done. It took about 10 hours over 2 days. What the demos don't mention is the fact that most people probably won't have the time or won't want to invest the time to maintain the tree properly
Of course some are much quicker but some large ones can take a week or more to work. It's not ''finished'', the whole thing will need doing again next year and the wiring will take much longer! So how many trees do you have?

 

[TomB]

That looks really great, a dramatic difference from the first picture. It looks much more mature.

 

[Adair M]

More old needle pulling. This probably should be done every 2 or three years on this (J ''blue alps'') and procumbens and rigida etc. They really hang on tight and won't drop naturally until about the 4th year. Removing them helps with any potential back budding and makes wiring a lot more pleasurable too. It's one of the most time consuming things. Much longer than unwiring. These two activities are the most boring things to do. If you don't find them boring, you haven't done enough.

View attachment 144291

View attachment 144292


The best part is pulling off the last one.

View attachment 144293





So apart from a few minor details that's pretty much done. It took about 10 hours over 2 days. What the demos don't mention is the fact that most people probably won't have the time or won't want to invest the time to maintain the tree properly
Of course some are much quicker but some large ones can take a week or more to work. It's not ''finished'', the whole thing will need doing again next year and the wiring will take much longer! So how many trees do you have?


View attachment 144294

It looks very nice Michael.

 

[my nellie]

Yes, indeed! It is very nice!

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What has happened to the apex of the tree at the right side, the one behind the highest tree of the composition...? Or my eyes are tricking me?

 

[MichaelS]

Yes, indeed! It is very nice!What has happened to the apex of the tree at the right side, the one behind the highest tree of the composition...? Or my eyes are tricking me?

It's your eyes.

 

[JudyB]

The Koreshoff book page 91 describes that very wire schematic, to bend down, go over first reverse when bending up. That is how I learned to wire, from that book.
I really like what you've done with this tree, very nice.

 

[Adair M]

The Koreshoff book page 91 describes that very wire schematic, to bend down, go over first reverse when bending up. That is how I learned to wire, from that book.
I really like what you've done with this tree, very nice.

Makes sense, she's Australian, too.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

I've got one needle juniper. When i start cleaning it out i need 2 weeks to get around. Although it is a hell of a job it is the work put into it that makes the difference. It makes you appreciate the work in the magic. Wait until this tree gets full. You'll have lots of time to think. I like the feeling of the slender trunks.

 

[Paulpash]

This is the reason I sold all my squamatas - wanted time to develop other trees but it took disproportionately so long to keep them looking good (and they do look great when it's just the steel blue foliage you can see). I also got bored of the tedium - I had 3, 2 of which were fairly big trees. Props for sticking with it!

 

[WesB]

You’re wrong about it being boring

 

[Smoke]

You're right! It is tedious. But not boring. But, if you find your mind wandering, set the tweezers down, go do something else, then come back to it.

By the way, your wiring? Where you wire two branches coming off the trunk with one wire? You should wire so that the wire come up from under the branch, not from above it. Like this:

View attachment 144167

See Fig. 4

And that.... is why figure three is wrong...because of figure four which is right. Of course if your bending branches upwards with figure three, then its right. But most of us want tension down.

 

[Adair M]

And that.... is why figure three is wrong...because of figure four which is right. Of course if your bending branches upwards with figure three, then its right. But most of us want tension down.

Actually, Fig 3 works either with the anchor wire on top or bottom. The key is to have the anchor nice and snug (not tight!) at the beginning and bring those wires in to the middle of the crotch to start. Done loose, it doesn’t hold.

You see, virtually every wire placed on a branch is a figure 3. Yo match other wire, sometimes you have to start with the anchor on top, sometimes on bottom. Done correctly, it doesn’t matter.

Here is a picture of Kimura’s wiring:



And another:



If you look carefully at the second picture, you will see there are Fig. 3s, some with the anchor wire on top, some on the bottom.

 

[Smoke]

Never mind your correct. Even though the mechanics says your wrong. Just do an experiment with wire on top and wire on bottom. Push down on the branch at the tip and watch what the loop at the back does. I already said if wiring for upward movement it doesn't matter.

AT A WYE WITH NO OTHER COUNTER WIRE LIKE SOME OF KIMURAS

 

[WesB]

The important thing to remember regardless of what approach you use with some trees, Procumbens Juniper specifically, the strength of the joint between a branch and either a major and larger branch or the trunk is very weak. If this junction is not supported you run the risk of breaking this branch off without any undue stress in your mind. In other words if you pull down the branch and the stress joining point at the junction you may lose the branch. You cannot stress this junction without paying the price. With some trees this does not matter. I find Procumbens' Junipers a strange duck. They seem very flexible and in some ways they are, but when it comes to this one point, it is very deceptive as to how easy these branches can be broken.

Is this what you’re speaking of? We should be always supporting the trees like this while making the bends?

Last night I was watching a 4 man juniper demo on YouTube. Artist #4 snapped the entire top 3/4 off his tree by mistake ruining it forever. Today I think I just learned what he learned the hard way.

 

[Adair M]

Is this what you’re speaking of? We should be always supporting the trees like this while making the bends?

Last night I was watching a 4 man juniper demo on YouTube. Artist #4 snapped the entire top 3/4 off his tree by mistake ruining it forever. Today I think I just learned what he learned the hard way.

Yep, that picture shows a guy about to break a branch!

 

[Adair M]

Never mind your correct. Even though the mechanics says your wrong. Just do an experiment with wire on top and wire on bottom. Push down on the branch at the tip and watch what the loop at the back does. I already said if wiring for upward movement it doesn't matter.

AT A WYE WITH NO OTHER COUNTER WIRE LIKE SOME OF KIMURAS

Smoke, that post of yours is so poorly written, I really can’t decipher exactly what you are trying to say.

However, I will say that if you wire a FIG 3, and then you move one of the two forks, and the anchor wire at the back moves, you didn’t do it right! You probably didn’t bring the wires into the center of the crotch enough.