This wavy image is from Bonsai Today issue 21. The instructions are geared for beginning bonsai enthusiasts.
Pruning
You can grow decent bonsai without wiring. However, I know of no bonsai that doesn’t require some pruning. If just pruning without wiring works to achieve a desirable effect, then just prune. Trunks and branches that grow without wiring tend to look more natural (as you might expect).
Wiring
Not all trunks and branches that grow on their own look good. In the top drawing above, the branches are too straight and uninteresting, so wiring is appropriate. Most bonsai artist use wire. Some use it a lot, some more sparingly.
Need wire? How about Pruning tools?
I use both.I have so far have not come across any plants requiring only pruning. Somehow wiring is required in every case.
Yeah, that does seem to be the case, especially when it come to refining, with occasional exceptions that I’ve seen along the way. I do have some larches that I’ve been growing and pruning for a few years that are looking pretty good without wiring.
Wiring larches is a waste of effort they always spring back to their
former position in a matter of weeks, even on older branches.The larch
is said to have memory.
Thanks Steve. I always thought that Larch Master Lenz wires, so I double checked in his book (Bonsai from the Wild) and sure enough he mentions wiring in several places. I know many types of trees have memories and I don’t doubt that larch has some (spruce too), so maybe more patience is required.