Wiring is the practice of wrapping aluminum or copper wire around the bonsai trunk or branches to shape the tree. Training bonsai is never easy, but it can be made easier by proper preparation and execution. Here are some basic guidelines.
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Bonsai is in a way like photography - it is possible to buy dozens of expensive ‘add-ons’ to the basic equipment. Some of these are helpful, others merely give you the feeling that ‘Gee, I’m really an artist’. Tools do not make the artist - the artist uses tools.
Most beginning bonsai artists will purchase a tree at some stage of development and gradually learn to care for it. The novice will graduate later to pruning, wiring and other more advanced practices. At some point in his or her education, the temptation to take on the challenge of growing a bonsai from seed will seem irresistible.
Wiring is the practice of wrapping aluminum or copper wire around the bonsai trunk or branches to shape the tree. Training bonsai is never easy, but it can be made easier by proper preparation and execution. Here are some basic guidelines.
Beyond the need for good water retention and good drainage, soils have to supply all the nutrients trees can’t get from the air or produce internally using sunlight for energy. Also, how much water retention is needed and specifically what kind and amount of nutrients will vary somewhat from species to species.
First, a little ultra-simple plant biology. Plants maintain themselves and grow by taking in and processing nutrients, just as animals do. But the obvious difference is that (with few exceptions) plants can’t go get them, it has to come to them. One major portion of their needs is met when they absorb sunlight and take CO2 from the air. The rest must come from the soil.
Over the centuries the artists of bonsai have developed hundreds of unique styles. But within this complexity there are a few that form the basis of most of the variations.
Few subjects in bonsai care are as complex as watering. What should be the simplest thing in the world is actually the most complicated. Apprentices in Japan will perform many duties for their first few years before being allowed to water the trees. Incorrect watering practices kill more bonsai than any other factor.
