Bending Boxwood branches

Thanks Hiram. I can't speak about it working on many other species, but with corky barked trees I'm afraid the bark would be twisted and bent off from the branch. As someone said on another topic about branches, if it's worth the bend for the design, it may be worth doing.. bark will usually grow back.

Another trick is to "massage" the branch by gently bending it to the position and curves you want it to take before any wiring is done. Do this slowly and repeat, keeping your fingers firmly on the outside of the curve. It somehow loosens the inner fibres and makes the branch or trunk much less likely to snap. Kind of like hypnotizing the Bonsai into taking the shape we have planned for it!