What to do with wire that has been on too long?

[Sugartree]

I just bought a Five Needle Pine at a bonsai nursery and i noticed that some of the wires are going into the bark and wondering what I should do? The guy who sold it to me said the trunk has lines which look like scar marks because steel wire was used on the trunk to thicken in which makes me thing they maybe they are trying to thicken the top of the tree?

Attached are some images.

 

[AZbonsai]

Wire has been on to long! My opinion...get it off! These deep wire marks may never heal over. Aluminum or copper wire will do the same if left on to long. Just me, but it makes me think your bonsai guy was not very straightforward with you. They use wire on the trees to bend branches into position.

 

[Johnathan]

Get it off.

Its a painful process and a lesson well learned, especially if you're the one who put the wire on it like I did here.

Taking it off was very surreal and quite hurtful to myself and tree alike.

Hopefully time heals all wounds.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Hopefully time heals all wounds.

Time heals almost all wounds... on a pine. If that were a maple tree, people would been telling you to throw it out...

 

[Adair M]

I just bought a Five Needle Pine at a bonsai nursery and i noticed that some of the wires are going into the bark and wondering what I should do? The guy who sold it to me said the trunk has lines which look like scar marks because steel wire was used on the trunk to thicken in which makes me thing they maybe they are trying to thicken the top of the tree?

Attached are some images.

Wire scars are just part of bonsai.

@Sugartree, the way your tree was produced is the lower part is JBP, and the upper part is JWP. (Five Needle Pine). They wrap wire around the JBP, give it a bend or two, then plant it in the ground for a decade. The JBP grows over the wire giving it an "aged" appearance. This was all done intensional.

The JWP part, with the smooth bark, will scar if the wire is left on too long. It looks like it is beginning to cut in. You can remove it if you like.

The best way is to unwind the wire. This way it is lifted straight up out of the groove it made. If you try to cut it out in chunks, if it's grown in, you damage the tree even more because you have to cut into the wood to cut the wire. Most people do it wrong, buy cutting in chunks. Much better to do it the way the pros do: unwind it!

Very large wire can be cut in chunks. But spin off as much as you can. Gripping the wire with pliers is the easiest way.

 

[clive bennett]

Pine trees grow fast and the wire marks will go in a few years, remove all the wire now, and when you need to wire again go the opposite way around the trunk and branches, Most Japanese pine trees show wire has been allowed to scar the tree it does thicken the trunk , helps create thick bark and helps form buds low on the trunk. Don't worry to much they will go given time . Just watch for similar marks on Maples etc. they will mark the tree for millenia

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Johnathan]

Time heals almost all wounds... on a pine. If that were a maple tree, people would been telling you to throw it out...

Thank you. This is good news!

Wire scars are just part of bonsai.

The best way is to unwind the wire. This way it is lifted straight up out of the groove it made. If you try to cut it out in chunks, if it's grown in, you damage the tree even more because you have to cut into the wood to cut the wire. Most people do it wrong, buy cutting in chunks. Much better to do it the way the pros do: unwind it!

Very large wire can be cut in chunks. But spin off as much as you can. Gripping the wire with pliers is the easiest way.

This is exactly what I did. Tried to cut it out in chunks and had to dig into the tree, ultimately I had to unwind sections of it

Everything I had read online said to cut the wire off, but maybe that's when it doesn't cut into the tree.

 

[Adair M]

Everything I had read online said to cut the wire off, but maybe that's when it doesn't cut into the tree.

Don't believe everything you read online!

Seriously.

Read my thread "What's it like to attend an Intensive" (or something like that). In it I describe how I learned that many of the things I thought I knew were wrong! Removing wire was one of them. When I wrote about it, zillions of people flamed me for it. But, they had never tried it themselves. Sure, it takes a little practice. But it's the best way.

 

[Johnathan]

Read my thread "What's it like to attend an Intensive" (or something like that).

....... aaanndddd now I want a JBP. Thank you for the suggestion. It was a fantastic read for the day. Great thread.

 

[It's Kev]

my little juniper had trunk scars from wiring (sadly i don't have a photo) but it made bright green new bark and calloused over in a month or 2.

 

[Adair M]

....... aaanndddd now I want a JBP. Thank you for the suggestion. It was a fantastic read for the day. Great thread.

You should! JBP are the King of bonsai!

I spent the past two days working my JBP, first decandling, then pulling needles. There are areas that are still too dense so I'll go back and thin some more. After I get all the others decandled and pulled.

 

[It's Kev]

You should! JBP are the King of bonsai!

I spent the past two days working my JBP, first decandling, then pulling needles. There are areas that are still too dense so I'll go back and thin some more. After I get all the others decandled and pulled.

View attachment 152694

what time of year do we cut the needles shorter?

 

[sorce]

what time of year do we cut the needles shorter?

Never!

Sorce

 

[Adair M]

what time of year do we cut the needles shorter?

I don't cut needles. Decandling causes a second flush of candles to grow to replace the ones removed. They will have shorter needles.

Timing depends on your location.

 

[BeebsBonsai]

You should! JBP are the King of bonsai!

I spent the past two days working my JBP, first decandling, then pulling needles. There are areas that are still too dense so I'll go back and thin some more. After I get all the others decandled and pulled.

View attachment 152694

Adair. That is one beautiful tree. Great work. I have a much younger JBP, do you find they back bud readily from the trunk? It has yet to develop that scaly bark that they are known for and I am kind of hoping I can stimulate some back budding by letting the candles extend next year and then pinch them the following summer. However, if they don't back bud easily on older areas of the tree, it would be helpful to know so I can use the extended candles as scion grafts that spring.

 

[BeebsBonsai]

what time of year do we cut the needles shorter?

As Sorce and Adair have said, never cut needles. Control their growth by decandling and not applying fertilizer after the decandling. If you are experiencing longer needles on the second flush it might be a light issue. If the tree isn't getting full sun, its needles will grow longer in an attempt to reach more light.

 

[Adair M]

Adair. That is one beautiful tree. Great work. I have a much younger JBP, do you find they back bud readily from the trunk? It has yet to develop that scaly bark that they are known for and I am kind of hoping I can stimulate some back budding by letting the candles extend next year and then pinch them the following summer. However, if they don't back bud easily on older areas of the tree, it would be helpful to know so I can use the extended candles as scion grafts that spring.

The answer is a definite: "it depends"! Lol!!!

Young trees are more likely to bud on the trunk.

There are two ways for a Pine to backbud: 1) at a node; 2) where there used to be a needle.

Needle buds are very weak, and unreliable. Especially after the needles have dropped. The buds at the nodes are far stronger and can get stimulated to grow by a sudden drop of auxin and exposure to sufficient sunlight. This is how the cutback method works, cutting off the auxin supply.

 

[BeebsBonsai]

The answer is a definite: "it depends"! Lol!!!

Young trees are more likely to bud on the trunk.

There are two ways for a Pine to backbud: 1) at a node; 2) where there used to be a needle.

Needle buds are very weak, and unreliable. Especially after the needles have dropped. The buds at the nodes are far stronger and can get stimulated to grow by a sudden drop of auxin and exposure to sufficient sunlight. This is how the cutback method works, cutting off the auxin supply.

Would you recommend to just go ahead with a bunch of scion grafts so that I do not waste an extra year if it didn't back bud? I almost feel like it is a better option to "build" the tree to my design. I only worry because it would be my first grafting attempt. But I guess we DO have to start somewhere. LOL

 

[Paradox]

I remove wire that has been on too long very carefully then I cover the wounds in cut paste to help healing.