I wanted to keep this branch but, after the tree was potted it was sticking up at a 30 degree angle and looking ugly -- ok, the whole tree is pretty ugly anyway, I wanted it to look more natural...

Using a small hacksaw blade I made 4 cuts about 1/3rd of the way through the bottom of the branch. After attatching the wire I twisted it around itself and slowly pulled for a few hours.

In about 4 months the branch should be set and healed. It will look pretty natural in the end. This is one of many methods to bend a larger branch.

This shows how things are hooked-up and pulled, I did it over a few hours so the branch wouldn't break.

Windswept, wired and ugly but hey, I saw a lot of its brothers and sisters up in the mountains last week !!

Bob

Yes, there are variations on everything.

No John, I don't give out my email but can be contacted through the forum or Facebook.

The union of a branch to the trunk is almost like a ball and socket. Using a concave cutter to cut into trunk tissue above the branch, then simply repositioning the branch at the desired angle has very little, if any, impact on hydraulic movement to/from the branch - as long as you don't go crazzy. ;-) As you pointed out, it also makes branch positioning more realistic appearing when the base of the branch proper, actually emerges from the trunk at a downward angle, rather than emerging at an upward angle and then being obviously manipulated downward.

The scar left above the branch is usually not unsightly, and depending on the branch size often heals to the point of being completely noticeable in 1-3 growth seasons.

I use this technique commonly, & simply use a toothpick to work waterproof wood glue into the wound above the branch to eliminate dessication of the wood surrounding the wound, which helps it heal faster. This technique is especially useful on lower branches - to give them the look of an old branch that has been pulled down by its own weight (or perhaps the weight of snow in some trees) over time, and the wood of the trunk formed over the downward growing branch .... much nicer than having that branch base growing off the trunk at an upward angle and then being wired or pulled into a downward position with the base still at an upward angle.

Al

However, when looking at nature in general, in an imperfect world, we also see where branches emerge at an upward angle then are forced down by natural forces. 'Natural' according to conditions caused by nature.

As always it's a matter of taste, style and the grower's/stylist's preference in how the design of the finished tree should look. I can look around and find many trees with branches just like that.

Most of us also realize that there is just as much beauty in a 'perfect' formal upright as there is in a distressed-contorted tree which has been designed with some elements of drama.

It's all part of the art of Bonsai.

".... much nicer than having that branch base growing off the trunk at an upward angle and then being wired or pulled into a downward position with the base still at an upward angle."

But, can also be used as an element of design.

When I first started looking this tree over it had many elements which would lead to having some 'drama' in the finished design.
It would lend itself to a windswept style easily.
There was enough primary movement in the trunk to suggest a hard life.
The tangle of opposite roots (common in old tropicals I see every day here) giving the suggestion that it's spent it's life hanging on hard.

The cuts made have healed completly and the branch is growing like crazy while holding it's position well.

Bob

Al

The smaller cuts have also become invisible, unlike making one large cut or 'V' in the branch.

Bob