Help me with a Virt for my shohin Ume.

yashu

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Give me some ideas with this trunk line, what would you keep/ cut. I ever thought about flipping the tree upside down to make it a full cascade…. Let’s have some fun.

View attachment 534055View attachment 534056
I’m not much help with the virt but that’s a nice little trunk to start with!
 

Shibui

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Not sure I'd be trying shohin with Ume. Leaf size, internodes and getting flower buds on very short shoots may be difficult but as you've asked for a virt:
ume 1.png
Use the low shoot to develop a branch low on left.
very short apex from the best placed shoot on either of the 3 upper branches.
Shorten the strong right branch. Trunk line may come from either this one or the down growing one. Much depends on how it grows in the next couple of years.

Definitely not a 'standard' bonsai design but the quirkiness has attracted my interest. Please post updates as you can.

Final warning: Never put any faith in online advice as we can't see the tree in 3D which means we may pick back branches as possible fronts. Always ground truth any online advice with the tree in front of you.
 

vp999

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Thank you...Your design was my first thought too but I was trying to see if anyone can see anything else differently. Much appreciated! The tree is only about 6-7 inches tall overall.
 

Tieball

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I cannot see the tree all around. However, and this is just my personal preference, I would remove the curled bend with that downward heading branch. I just don’t find it natural. It’s more of a distraction to me. I prefer the development using what looks like that natural bends and curves. I chose to simplify the earl development. You have the tree in front of you though so there may be dynamics I cannot see.
IMG_3610.jpeg
 
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I can probably rotate it about 45 degree now, anymore I would have to let the roots grow out another year or so to do it.
It'd be good to see the tree out of the pot - see the roots too.
 

JeffS73

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VP, did you you chop this year, could you see those buds before you did the chops?

I'm completely chicken to chop my ume, I'm afraid it won't bud.
 
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VP, did you you chop this year, could you see those buds before you did the chops?

I'm completely chicken to chop my ume, I'm afraid it won't bud.
Nearly all deciduous trees will backbud on hardwood after being hard pruned. Elms 100%, prunus too, I can't even think of one that didn't.
 

SeanS

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VP, did you you chop this year, could you see those buds before you did the chops?

I'm completely chicken to chop my ume, I'm afraid it won't bud.
I don’t want to hijack @vp999 thread, but here’s my Ume thread with chopping and back budding well documented
 

vp999

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It'd be good to see the tree out of the pot - see the roots too.
Maybe next year ..I just got the tree from cedarrosenursery maybe 1.5 month ago. Dont wanna pull it out of the soil again lol. Thanks !
 

vp999

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VP, did you you chop this year, could you see those buds before you did the chops?

I'm completely chicken to chop my ume, I'm afraid it won't bud.
I got the tree in dormant state like that maybe 1.5 month ago from cedarrosenursery.com. I didn't do anything except putting it in the pot. There was no buds at all when I received it...But from my personal experience Ume will back bud like crazy when there's no bark on the tree yet. I dug 5 Ume last year and there's very little bark on a few of them and some were as big as 4" girth in trunk size and they all back budded for me easily. I think its the older ones that doesn't back bud. Good luck buddy!
 

vp999

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I cannot see the tree all around. However, and this is just my personal preference, I would remove the curled bend with that downward heading branch. I just don’t find it natural. It’s more of a distraction to me. I prefer the development using what looks like that natural bends and curves. I chose to simplify the earl development. You have the tree in front of you though so there may be dynamics I cannot see.
View attachment 534178
Thanks...I love that too...Maybe I will remove capt Hook's hook lol. You are awesome !!!!
 

Gabler

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I cannot see the tree all around. However, and this is just my personal preference, I would remove the curled bend with that downward heading branch. I just don’t find it natural. It’s more of a distraction to me. I prefer the development using what looks like that natural bends and curves. I chose to simplify the earl development. You have the tree in front of you though so there may be dynamics I cannot see.
View attachment 534178

There's nothing wrong with a tree that's a little more abstract in its design. I'm casting a vote for the @Shibui plan. Why waste something unique and interesting? Grow a different ume in a more natural style. Keep this one weird.

It brings to mind the bog monster. It was a weird, ugly-looking tree, but @Cadillactaste managed to turn it into something cool.

 

Shibui

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Maybe next year ..I just got the tree from cedarrosenursery maybe 1.5 month ago. Dont wanna pull it out of the soil again lol. Thanks !
The point is that designing a tree without seeing the roots may give a poor result.
Knowing where the roots are is extremely important when making structural decisions.
Nebari needs to align with the chosen trunk shape, esp if tilting the trunk one side or the other.
No point designing a compact tree if the roots are another 4" down the buried trunk.
 
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