How do make a twist?

20 years ago

I'm probably not that advanced, but this one guy twisted his bald cypress like crazy. That tree is what I would like to try to emulate. I'll be on my death bed when my tree has a trunk like that, but how do get the twist?

http://www.bonsainorthshore.com/Bald%20cypress%20%20Bonsai%20Twister.htm

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Comments (6)

rjj1
20 years ago
It was probably collected as a twisted trunk, then trunk chopped and styled. A very beautiful tree.

randy
lucy
20 years ago
"This one guy" (Guy Guidry) is one of the top bonsai artists in the world, and you're not alone in wanting to do trees like that!
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habbob
Original Author
20 years ago
Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. I knew his name it just escaped me at the time. I've seen some of his other trees and he is incredible.

It's highly doubtful I'll ever have a tree like that, but I'd at least like to try. =) Most likely on a smaller scale. I saw pics of it being repotted and somehow he did it solo. That was a feat.

Bald Cypress is a great tree IMHO. It's lives in swamps, and looks the part. Very unique appearence. It's probably this rookies favorite tree.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
20 years ago
One method of developing a twisted looking trunk is to lay 2, 3, or 4 heavy wires tight on the trunk of a young tree, spiraling the wires upward at a steeper angle than you would normally wire and touching each other. Allow them to bite into the trunk. This kills the cambium under the wires and forces the tree to build on the spiral of live cambium, creating a bulging and out-of-round trunk that makes the tree look very old. After several years, remove the wire and dead bark/cambium. This works especially well on junipers.

Al
lucy
20 years ago
Another way is to wrap together seedling trunks (allowing 1-2 branches to escape in between) with raffia, but give them a gentle twist before wrapping. Leave it on for up to a year, though you may re-wrap in between to accommodate growth (check in 6 mos.) but be very very careful not to disturb the fusion going on between trunks
habbob
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks a lot for the info everyone. Sounds like a bit of a challenge, but I'll have a hand full of trees to work with, and I love a challenge.

With a lot of luck, by the time I die, I'll have a tree that can almost hold a flame to Guy's. =P

I'm not discouraged a bit though. I've always loved to grow things, and bonsai is my favorite hobby... in art form. I've never really been moved much by paintings, but I've seen trees that just made my jaw drop. It takes a green thumb, an eye for beauty in nature, and incredible patience. Three things that most people lack now a days.