I often see the question asked, “Can I wire in the fall?” The short answer is, “Yes, provided….”
That sounds a bit evasive, but as with many things in the wonderful world of bonsai you have to be aware of qualifiers that may come with different species and situations. I have done my share of wiring in the fall. I usually do it early in the fall, because there’s a little growing season left for me. That’s one of the qualifiers. Wiring puts stress on your trees, even though it’s often not a great deal of stress. But the tree responds by producing new cells to replace any damaged when bending the branches. This is very important. If you live too far north, wiring in fall could result in one or more dead branches because there wasn’t any growth to allow them to recover. So that’s one of the qualifiers. Another of course is associated with species. Some maintain good vigor into fall, such as Bald cypress and Cedar elm, and some don’t. Winged elms do not. Sweetgums do not. Hawthorns do not.
I wrote about this Cedar elm, Ulmus crassifolia, back in September. Collected in late April, it was slow to recover but eventually really gained strength. And it’s still growing! So today I figured it might just be time to take advantage of a fall wiring opportunity.
First of all, here’s a photo showing the extra growth the tree has put out in just a month – a fall month, at that! This is always a good sign. It means you can work on the tree without too much concern about causing harm.
The first order of business today is to remove the dead stubs.
A few minutes later, this is what I’ve got. I think the tree is already looking better. Notice how chopping the main and left-hand trunk shorter is going to improve taper. So it certainly wasn’t a bad thing that they suffered dieback.
The right-hand trunk died back to the base. Fortunately, a nice shoot emerged from near the base of this trunk that I can use to replace it. Moreover, it’s toward the back of the tree which is actually ideal.
Now that I have everything chopped back, it’s time to do some styling.
And here’s the basic plan. I think it’s pretty easy to see what this specimen is going to turn out like. It has a killer base, mature bark on the main trunk and a really nice design. I expect to be able to put it into a bonsai pot next spring.
Let me know what you think.
Oh, one last thing about wiring in fall. Check the wire you put on earlier in the season! If it hasn’t already happened, fall is the time of year when branches suddenly swell and cause the wire to bite in. So get that wire off if it needs it!
Zach,
that bud I was talking about is maybe 1/2 inch below the wire in the middle
of the larger trunk and if that is what it is won’t it be on the wrong spot.
Oh, that’s no bud, it’s where I removed a small branch (that was in the wrong spot).
good looking trio of trunks. on the large trunk is that a new bud showing just below the wire. like how you have place all the new branches and the way you chopped all three.
I’m not sure where you’re referring to on the large trunk, Bob. There are some secondary branches on the primary branches, and that may be what you’re seeing.