Thank you every one for your input. I was thinking of removing it last year but hesitated. There is no buyer remorse once that branch is gone. I am going to repot it within the next few days and the question of that nagging first branch popped up again. Like Sorce and Zach said, it is below the first bend and after looking at it for so long, it becomes a nagging thought especially when it is naked. It is not bad when the tree is full of leaves. I was also concerned as the first branch gets thicker I am loosing the first inner bend. May be I shouldn't worry about it, our girth grows too as we get older.
Clip and grow does give the desired look of branch movements but it takes so long. A Lingnan penjing master once told me, each bend equals one year of growth and that's how you tell the number of years spent in branch development. So counting the number of bends in the lower branches, I must have switched to clip and grow five years ago. I am not so concerned about the ramification right now, just focus on building the branches till they give the overall silhouette I like. Each branch is built like the main trunk with taper and movements. Once that structure is completed, ramifications will come quickly. As I was taught, worrying about ramification at too early a stage just complicates structural development. In fact I was thinking I might try to root the first branch to make a shohin, LOL! As Judy suggested, I will rotate the tree a little clockwise and see how it looks at from a new angle.
Once the top grows thicker in proportion to the lower trunk, I will shorten the tree to get a more proportional taper.
OK, I will keep it. Many thanks!
