traditional wiring versus guy wires

[JTred]

I was just wondering what the advantages that traditional wiring has over guy wires. I guess they are more concealed, and offer a little bit more control, but I think guy wires are a much simpler and safer option, especially for beginners. So why isn't this recommended all that much as an alternative to traditional wiring when the specific control that wiring offers isn't necessary?

[Gnome]

JTred,

I think that you touched on the primary limitation of using guy wires, that they are somewhat limited to movement in a single direction. If you would want to impart more than one curve to a branch, guy wires could be impractical. I suppose you could use more than one wire, attached at more than one point along a branch but that could easily become cumbersome especially if you were wiring an entire tree. Also, their direction is limited to a primarily downward one. If you wanted to move a branch laterally, finding a location to attach the wire would be difficult, perhaps impossible.

I can think of another problem with guy wires as well, they have a tendency to impart a sort of arc to branches, less able to lower them close to the trunk. With traditional wiring you can move the entire branch avoiding the arched look.

You are right though, if guy wires fit the circumstance they are certainly worth knowing about.

Norm

[somegeek]

I'm using guy wires on a ficus fusion project and noted that you can get a straight bend on thinner branches if the guy wire is pulling down on the branch within an inch of the trunk or so. After a month or so, you may be able to move the guy wire placement outwards if the bend is somewhat set up on thicker branches if you need to.

I'm a bonsai newbie and wiring is still foreign to me. Waiting for a few of my trees to grow a little larger before I wire them. For my Ficus, the guy wires were pretty straight forward and better for my situation given I wrapped the main bunch of trunks with electrical tape to force fusion.

somegeek

[JTred]

The main reason I ask is for one I don't yet have the right kind of wire to correctly wire what I want to do. I will eventually get some, but for now it can wait as most of my trees aren't at that stage yet. Secondly, I don't know how to wrap the branches without damaging the leaves that grow along the main part of the branch that I want to relocate.

[somegeek]

Secondly, I don't know how to wrap the branches without damaging the leaves that grow along the main part of the branch that I want to relocate.

Same here... a friend stated that wiring properly is a bit of it's own art form... and I am far from an artist at this point.

Good luck.

somegeek