First Trident Maple

[BonsaiOnTheBrainTX]

I purchased my first Trident Maple. It’s about 5 ft tall with no movement in the trunk. The base is about an inch and half thick. The first bud is about 6in up from the base. Ive had it a couple weeks and I’m just letting it acclimate, I haven’t repotted or looked at the roots yet. I’m trying to come up with my plans for this tree. It does have some branching up toward the top that could be useful down the road. Here is my thought process if anyone would like to chime in with feedback or advice I would appreciate it!

1. Because it’s late in the season I’ll let it continue to grow as is until early spring 2025. When spring comes I’ll start an air layer up towards the top, right under where the significant branching starts. I might do some wiring of the top branches now to introduce some kind of movement up there that could be useful.

2. After the air layer is completed next summer I’ll trunk chop it right above the lowest bud that has started growing out, you can see it in one of the pictures. It’s about 6 inches up from the base. That will become the new leader for the bottom portion. I’ve already taken and planted about 14 cuttings from when I first received it, hopefully those with strike and maybe I’ll try a clump style down the road with those.

Thoughts? Am I missing anything? I’ll continue to post updates of this tree in this thread as it progresses.

 

[MMJNICE]

Nice little leaves on that maple. Looks like it's got pretty small Internodes just about all over the whole tree. So what to do with your Material?? I guess that depends on what the final finished tree you Invision would be. If all your looking for is a shohin tree I would chop the top now and begin building branching. If you want a thicker tree say like 3 inches thick I would put in a larger grow box or the ground and let that bad boy run all summer.. that would take I would think up to three growing season but I'm not Expert on trident maples I deal with mostly native maples.. you Don't have to have a plan to grow a tree but to grow a nice bonsai it's a must. So Basically that's the question you need to ask yourself.. what does the final tree you Envision look like?

 

[Shibui]

The plan sound OK.
I would not worry about wiring the top unless you feel the need for practice. I've never seen great results from wiring to shape deciduous branching. I form trident branches almost exclusively by pruning because, even though it takes longer, that gives much more natural bends.
I can't see a lot to make the top an attractive trunk but I understand the need to try out new techniques and propagate extra plants so happy for you to go ahead and make 2 trees to try out bonsai techniques. Unless there's a really good section it is usually quicker, easier and probably cheaper to go out and buy another tree.

You should be able to chop the lower trunk below the 1st shoot if shorter would give a better result but let's just plan on keeping it alive and healthy for the first year and review the possible chop when it is time.