noissee

i've been lookin around, and one thing that i've noticed is that many pines (black pines especially) have wiring scars on the bottom part of the trunk. i've seen this on several different sites. are they purely negligent? or is there something to that?

cray13

Usually these wiring scars at the base of the trunk on young material ( 3 years or less ) are there on purpose. The idea is to leave the wire on until it bites into the trunk in the hopes that it will accelerate swelling of the trunk. Generally if done when the tree is young these wiring scars will fade as the tree matures. So, I guess the key is to know how old the material is. If it's very old and still show signs of scarring you'll have to decide whether you can live with the scars or not. If it's young there's a good chance they'll heal over as the tree matures.

I've actually heard from one grower who said for his shohin material he leaves the first wire on and allows the trunk to grow around it. He says this greatly increase trunk swelling and that eventually you can't tell there was ever a wire there. I didn't see the results of this "technique", but I'm not sure how healthy it is for the tree.

Hopes this helps.

noissee

well i was pretty sure that it was for a purpose...couldnt imagine them being so negligent.

Mattbonsai

Could they be Grafting Scars? I know one of the pines grows better After being Grafted onto a stronger Rootstock, whether its Black pine of not I can not say.

-Matt-

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cray13

The site of a graft union usually looks quite a bit different than wire scars.

White pine is generally grafted onto a black pine base. The black pine's root system is considered to be more resilient. The problem is the difference in the bark. If the graft site isn't low enough you get a weird transition from black pine bark to white pine bark... looks weird and makes it obvious the tree has been grafted... not natural.

noissee

yeah definitely was wiring, it looks like negative wire, if you will.

Shady Side Bonsai

Pines that show this wiring trait were developed by the Koreans , go figure, and have been adopted elsewhere even here in the US by some growers. This technique is relatively new in the grand scheme of bonsai. Developed I'm sure to satisfy the craving for chubby pines in relatively short order.

I however, have seen many trees that were 20+ years or older that still showed significant signs of wire creases. The tree looking like it has had multiple corsets applied with the fat spilling out in between. I, out of morbid curiosity, bought a few. After about two years of watching the minimal growth rate around the scars, I layered off the tops which were unaffected and mulched the trunks with the wire scars.

Its my belief that unless these type of trees are planted in the ground or very large grow boxes, so that they can bolt and grow to a significant size to develop large bark plating, they will always look a bit contrived and a bit off to the discerning eye of the bonsai enthusiast.

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Cheers,
Tom
Shady Side Bonsai
Bonsai Vault
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