#Removingbonsaiwire: Ceder bonsai wire removal with detailed video.

Last night I worked late to get this tree done. There is a lot that I need to finish of before the winter finally sets in. The work on this tree took me about one and a half hours.

I do not mind removing the wire but it less fun than putting it on. You need to be very careful and work delicately. If you damage the needles on the tree it will not be visible right away but a week or two later you will see the brown broken edges. With a tree with this much green foliage it will be noticeable. A tip that helped me a lot is to work from the bottom of the pads with your fingers. This sounds real easy and straight forward but it does not always come naturally. Sometimes you need to hold a piece of wire down to remove it and then your forced to work from the top.

Here is a foto of the tree last year before I repotted it.

You will notice that the needles were shorter last year and the foliage was lighter. I think it has a lot to do with the weather that we had this past summer and the measurements I had to put in place to prevent my trees from drying out. The longer needles are due to the shading net that I put up to block out more sunlight. I repotted the tree and it was moved to the back of my bonsai display area. After that I got a few more trees and shifting the tree back to the original spot was a bit more tricky. So now I’m stuck with the long needles that look like tentacles. I like the greener foliage but the needles need to be shortened. I moved the tree into it original spot after I removed the wire.

Here is the video I uploaded with a detailed discussion on the tree and whats the next step in the development of this tree.

A few things that you should keep in mind when removing wire from a tree:

1. Place something over the soil mixture to prevent small pieces of wire dropping in the soil. The wire breaks down in the soil and uses the oxygen in the soil. Roots need oxygen to grow so this will cause a decrease in the trees growth.
2. Always keep the tree or the branch steady when removing the wire. If the tree moves to much you could damage the new and fresh roots. On the other end it you move a branch to much you can cause micro fractures in the bark. This happens all the time but if there are to many fractures the sap flow of the tree can be influenced.
3. Remove the small wires first and leave the heavier gauge wire for last.
4. Try not to damage to much of the foliage on the tree.
5. Lastly if the wire has cut into the bark try and remove if very carefully to prevent ring barking the tree. If you remove the wire by cutting it make sure you removed all the wire as some might be completely covered with bark.

After care:

1. Move the tree into a shady area.
2. Water the foliage to wash off any thing left behind.
3. Seal any cuts where the wire bit into the bark.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I really hope that the tips mentioned above helps you on your next bonsai project. Please feel free to leave your comments below.

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