How to Wire Juniper Bonsai

The juniper is an excellent choice for bonsai. It makes a good candidate for pruning and wiring. For beginning practice, choose a small tree or shrub. It can be trained into a starter bonsai in a few hours. These are sometimes called "mock" bonsai because they are easy to make. The result will not be the a dramatic bonsai arrangement, but it will have the look and feel of bonsai. With some additional pruning over the years, it will flourish into true bonsai.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Small concave branch cutter
• Nippers
• Trimming shears
• Wire cutters
• Straight pliers
• Angled pliers
• Copper wire (2.5mm)

1. Select a tree or shrub with an upright trunk that has a good taper from a thickened base to a narrow top.

2. Look for the unusual. Sometimes the unique and unusual makes an effective and startling bonsai, so look for trees or shrubs with natural curves or knots in their trunks, or other interesting features.

3. Choose a focal point for your design. Every bonsai tree has a preferred viewing angle, usually at eye level.

4. Remove the large branches at the base of the tree first. These will be the hardest to cut. You can come back later to age the marks on the trunk.

5. Thin the upper branches.

6. Balance the branches as you go. Branches should almost alternate from side to side along the trunk, and should never be parallel to one another. The branches should never obstruct one another from view. Branches shouldn't come directly toward the viewer, instead occurring along the sides of the trunk.

7. Cut a length of wire almost twice the length of the two lower branches. Wind a securing loop around the trunk and then begin wrapping the lowest two branches in place. Work in an "over/under" motion.

8. Work your way up the tree, wiring branches in pairs where you can.

Tips & Warnings

• After the tree is wired, the branches can be groomed and then wired with 1.5 mm wire (smaller diameter wire) on the offshoots. The foliage on the branches should be thinned for this. At the end of the process, each branch should look symmetrical and somewhat flat.
• Bend branches carefully while wiring in place. You can always come back later to make small modifications.
• When clipping wire, take small nips rather than trying to unwind the wire, which can damage the branch.
• Take it slow. Try drawing a picture of the design you want to come away. Take into consideration the tree's branch structure at the beginning of the process. There are many things you can accomplish with wiring and training, but using the natural structure of the tree as a starting point will make the process easier and faster.
• Always work at eye level and in good light. If you are unsure about a cut, come back to that part later.
• Make careful cuts with the branch cutters to avoid permanently scarring the trunk of the tree.