When I acquired the Blawii at the auction, there was already pruning done on the tree to remove excessive branches. The next logical step is to wire the branches into “clouds” such that the foliage can receive more light, and to improve the design of the tree. I didn’t have any 1mm wires, so I used somewhat thicker wires than required when wiring out the tiny branches. Which not only took more time, and demanded more dexterity. I’ll be sure to get the proper wires during the next meeting. I spread the work out to several days, there’s no way I could afford to spend so much time on a tree in one sitting (with family commitments and all). After roughly 12 hours of wiring and bending branches into shape, the design is complete. Below is a before (left) and after (right) view of the tree.
The tree changed from a pompom tree (which resembles more a landscape tree) into something that looks remotely like a bonsai. shaped the clouds into little triangles, and all the branches of the tree come together to form a big triangle. There were few branches that were at the brink of snapping off – especially at the heels of the branches. It should be much more manageable if I had the proper gauge of wire.
An aerial view shows how the pads are positioned to minimize overlap. Allowing more light and air to reach the inner parts of the branches.
A close up view shows the time and effort spent to position each individual branch.
Everything considered, I’m quite happy with the results. I hope I didn’t actually end up killing any branches. I’m looking forward to next spring, when the pads fill in. The tree hopefully will look more stunning and aged.
As for the other Blawii, I’ll leave it be for now. Since no pruning was done to it. I’ll design it, and prune it next Spring.
Bonsai Workshop 