51cg

Hello,I know the usual advice is annealed copper for conifers and aluminum for deciduous trees, but I’ve seen people use only one type for everything.What’s your preference? Do you stick with copper, aluminum, or mix depending on the tree?

I only use aluminium now. I bought some copper but I found it much more difficult to use. I gave up trying. Almost everyone I know use aluminium only.

Same for me. Aluminium only. Cheap, readily awailable, reusable and easy to use.

I have bought a few imported trees with steel wire on them. Proboably cheaper. The benefit is that on slow growing trees they rust away before biting which proboably is a big advantage in comercial production not needing to remowe wire.

Copper wire is less vissible, so for trees on display it's? desirable to use copper wire

One type of aluminum wire I use is copper anodized and looks pretty much as aluminum wire. I also have black anodized aluminum wire, for some species of trees they are less visible than the copper anodized one. It depends on the color of the bark. I have never seen plain aluminum wire sold as bonsai wire in any shop I have visited.

Typo. I ment that the copper anodized amuminum wire pretty much look like copper wire.

Hello...
For me, it depends.
Aluminum wires are much softer, it's easier to put on and it's very good with thin wires and branches (it's good with thicker ones too, but when wiring thinner branches, aluminum is better). I use it MUCH more often.

Copper is denser, it is very good for bending thicker branches with less wire diameter, and the copper wire has a little diference from aluminum.
Copper wires need to be annealed in order to get softer and be easier to handle, that will make it a lot easier to put on, and there's the thing, the annealed copper stiffen up over time! It goes tru' an "age-hardening" process, so after a few months you can actualy add firmer movements on already-wired branches.

You'll see more use of copper wire on conifers, since you'll generally deal with thicker branches, as they allow.
So I'll use it when I consider needed, and on conifers only.