Posted 14 February 2012 - 03:23 AM

Tutorial and photos by Grouper52:

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I've been told that folks here would like a tutorial aboutthe "Baby Bending" technique I use and often refer to.Those familiar with my book about Dan Robinson, "GnarlyBranches, Ancient Trees," can read (on pages 84-85) histheories about the science behind the gnarly branchesfound on ancient trees in nature. Those interested in suchthings are referred to the book. Here in this tutorial Iwill merely focus on the technique and the appearance ofage it creates in bonsai.In a nutshell, ancient trees develop gnarly branches overa period of centuries. We don't have centuries to producethe effect. Baby Bending can produce the effect in onlyseveral seasons, as will be shown in some progressionseries below.There are other ways beside Baby Bending to get similarresults. One such technique is "clip-and-grow," which ispopular in tropical or semi-tropical climates, such assouthern China, where the fast annual growth rate makesthe process practical in a reasonable period of time. Thistechnique also produces very realistic results, since itmost closely mimics what actually goes on in nature.Another approach is to use standard ramificationtechniques, the mainstay in temperate climates withshorter growing seasons. The effect, however, is notnearly as convincing as the other two in my opinion, oftenproducing an image that is more stylized than convincinglynatural in appearance.I learned Baby Bending from Dan Robinson, and I use thename he gave it. Others may have also learned and taughtthis technique in various forms, but I am not aware thatanyone has placed the emphasis on it that Dan has. As mybook title points out, gnarly branches are essential tothe illusion of great age in a bonsai, and manyspectacular examples of the results Dan has achieved canbe seen in the book.For this tutorial, however, I will use several of my ownexamples.The fundamental premise for the technique can be summed upin the old saying, "As the twig is bent, so grows thetree." Without understanding Baby Bending, however, peopletypically fail to bend the tree's twigs while they arestill twigs, instead waiting until the branches thickenand mature a bit more. However, depending on the speciesof tree, the small twigs may get rigid and brittle evenwithin one or two seasons, and attempts then to imposegnarliness will often simply result in a broken or deadbranch. Best to do it when the branch is still a baby,still supple and bendable, and this is all the more truesince sharp bends - which give more bang for the buck -quickly become impossible in some species.Sharp bends along the length of the branch, again, are theideal here, not merely using the wire to create curves orundulations. The bends should be anywhere from 15 toalmost 180 degrees, and occur in all three dimensions, andat irregular intervals along the branch. Bends that areunexpected can create a dramatic effect, and irregular zigzags will mimic the gnarliness found on old trees innature.In addition, the bends you are after should occur alongthe length of the branch, not just right as it leaves atrunk or a larger branch: wrapped wire can alter the anglea small branch takes from its origin, but extreme bendsthere are often not tolerated, and in general I preferusing guy wires to place branches in space, and reservewrapped wire for bending.It is important to understand that bends which lookextreme when first imposed will often be softened over theyears as the branch thickens, such that extreme bends areseldom too extreme for the final image as the tree maturesunder your care.Some species will tolerate extreme levels of bending, andeven repeated bending as you get the image right, whereasin other species the cambium will simply get disrupted andthe branch will die. Also, in some species the wood willbe hardened and will easily break even in the first yearor two, and these species need to be bent less radically.Azaleas and Japanese Maples are delicate in this way in myexperience. Many conifers, however, and a number ofdeciduous trees are much more flexible, and sudden 90 andalmost 180 degree bends are routinely tolerated by youngwhips. Best to experiment with a branch or two first ifyou are not familiar with how your tree will respond.A final point is to use wire on EVERY small branch whenyou first start to style a tree. This also comes from Dan:"Every branch deserves to be wired". It will also build onthe previous bending to repeat the process on all the newwhips you intend to keep each year for a few more seasonsat least after the initial styling, and perhaps with sometrees to simply do it every year long into the future.Although I am not a perfectionist about impeccable wiringtechnique - viewing wiring more as a means to an end thanan end in itself - with Baby Bending it is important indelicate species to wrap the wire evenly and firmlyagainst the bark. Without doing this, two problems canarise.First, loose wire will not produce as tight a bend in somedirections, depending on where the looseness is inrelation to the direction bent.Secondly, and more importantly, keeping the wire tightagainst the bark protects the vital cambium fromseparating away from the bark and sapwood, in which caseit becomes very susceptible to disruption, which resultsin death of the branch distal to the cambial wound. Thisis a serious danger in some species.So, wrap firmly. If it digs in a little it will merely addto the effect in many species, and besides, unlike usingwrapped wire to place branches in space, the gnarly bendswill usually set before the wire digs in. Of course,though, keep an eye on it over time, especially duringtimes of branch thickening, such as the fall, when manytemperate climate trees store nutrients in the cambium,causing a sudden, marked thickening.I will post now several progression series where I haveused this technique to create a fairly convincing illusionof great age in just a few years.First is a big field-grown Japanese maple. As the firsttwo images show, after taking most of the huge ramrodstraight trunks and branches back to the most proximalgrowth, I'm still left with a very difficult challenge.The tree does not back bud, and the nodes are too long forclip-and-grow or traditional ramification techniques toproduce anything pleasing. A lot of potential, it seems,in that base, but no way to take advantage of it. What todo?Well, the answer is Baby Bending. But, VERY CAREFUL BabyBending. These branches are some of the most brittle I’veever encountered. Still, you can see it progress over thenext few years to the series of three 2010 photos, one inwinter with the previous summer’s Baby Bending, then aseries of two trims. The bends are not too radical, butthere is a pleasing movement in the branches now. Theaddition of deadwood - another hallmark of an ancienttree, and one extensively focused on by Dan - adds to theimage now as well. There is still a ways to go, of course,but the way forward is clear, and several more years ofsuch work should refine the image even more.Next is another tree that started out as very challengingmaterial. This field grown European hornbeam, which hadbeen horribly pruned by some unskilled help hired by anursery years before, looked like it had little future. Ifound the trunk and base appealing however, and decided togive it a go.The tree is next pictured in winter after my decision totilt it and save the smaller trunk.It now had clear potential. After it was repotted andrecovered another year, I went wild with Baby Bending.Not sure how this tree would tolerate the bending, whichwas not even very excessive, I simply went gonzo and wiredevery whip all the way out. That’s not usually necessary,but it’s kind of fun and preserves future possibilities abit. The final photo shows the tree three years later,with some of the results of several years’ bending evidentin the design.Next is a huge old Korean Hornbeam I got from Brussel’sBonsai years ago, much of which died during my three yearsliving in the climatic meat-grinder of Taos, New Mexico.The first two photos show it looking rather silly as Istruggled to find a way forward with what remained of it.The way forward, of course, was Baby Bending, combinedwith extension of the deadwood features, and dropping keybranches downward to frame the deadwood and give the treea fuller image. The results of the first year of this areseen in this photo:The first of these images then shows wiring/bending itselfin April the next year, and the results of the efforts areclear in the next two September shots of the front andback.Finally, the three year progression of a New Zealand TeaTree. The first shot shows the initial use of wiringsimply for general placement into a wind-swept style. Thenext two shots show front and back after two years ofsequential Baby Bending.I hope this has been helpful. It is an easy and funtechnique you can use to create impressive beauty and asense of great age in your trees, and do so in only a fewseasons. Good luck with your trees.