AusBonsai

Hi Guys,

I recently picked up a JM bonsai stock plant (pics below). With my other plants I generally have an idea of where I want to take it and can visualise an end product. I'm quite stumped with this one though and would really appreciate any advice on the best way to proceed (with styling).

Thanks

Front Back

This tree is so young. You can create almost anything from where it is now. If it was mine I'd probably just allow it to grow for a while to see what it develops into.

chop the straing uppper section of trunk back to the branch you have wired and let that branch become the new leader.
Grow, repeat to generate taper and movement

Ken

If you can get hold of Peter Adams book Bonsai with Japanese Maples, that will help you greatly.

Roger

kcpoole wrote:chop the straing uppper section of trunk back to the branch you have wired and let that branch become the new leader.
Grow, repeat to generate taper and movement

Ken

Thats about it. Slow process

Thanks so much for the input guys. Really appreciate it.

If you think the tree has achieved the trunk girth you want the start the chop chop suggested but if you want the trunk to be thicker, suggest growing the tree out. Let loose its natural growth until it reaches the thickness or near. Then get into chopping and developing taper and branches.

Akhi wrote:If you think the tree has achieved the trunk girth you want the start the chop chop suggested but if you want the trunk to be thicker, suggest growing the tree out.

Which is a distillation of what is in the excellent

RogerW wrote:Peter Adams book Bonsai with Japanese Maples,

Find it and read it -your library system may have a copy.

I'll also add that "over this side" there's a bit of a revolution happening: people are leaving their Japanese maples out in the sun in all weather, with protection only on the hottest, windiest afternoons. The flip side is that the roots are being left alone, at least while we're growing trunks.

It's still a bit experimental but the growth rates are much better than molly-coddling them.