Kotohime

Wow, that looks great. Nice movement, and great branch placement on the outside of each bend.

What type of soil is that? Looks like turface.
taco meat or purina dog food (@sorce)

jp. sweet trees in here. i might have one, a coral bark maple it is - getting hardcut and underway from 7' next spring
 
The latter, I don't know that I would have envisioned that direction. I think I would have thought to shorten the top, and leave more of the branches, even if I picked the same trunk line. I do like the outcomes you had though.

I agree that I could see something similar. However, maybe from the other side - better roots (IMO), and more likely not to lean away. Then I'd have to decide which branches to keep and remove (or chop back) - as I said about your tree, I'd have a tendency to leave longer branches or secondary trunks, but that might be a hesitancy to chop more than a choice with long-term vision in mind. This is the same main trunk line from the other side of the tree, which is the same idea I posted above with the red lines marking where to cut, but I left much more in terms of branching/secondary trunk than you did on the tree you posted a link to:
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yeh the nebari from that angle is definitely worth incorporating. you create more dynamic movement with this flow, as long as it looks convincing from the correct viewing angle looking up from the base is where i prefer to make decisions from. you dont want any inverse taper on that last trunk section or will never look right.
 
yeh the nebari from that angle is definitely worth incorporating. you create more dynamic movement with this flow, as long as it looks convincing from the correct viewing angle looking up from the base is where i prefer to make decisions from. you dont want any inverse taper on that last trunk section or will never look right.
So here is what I'm thinking... Red are cut points, blue are branches I'm thinking of keeping as well as a back branch not really visible. An alternative would be to cut the heavier branch on the left and leave the one below it, but it might be too odd / front-facing to wire out that way.
 

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So here is what I'm thinking... Red are cut points, blue are branches I'm thinking of keeping as well as a back branch not really visible.

i dont think i would take off the low branch on the bottom left though but i might be inclined to cut off the sub trunk just above it flush to the trunk, it seems like you left it quite long going by where your red line is.
btw ive chopped maples over winter when ive picked them up from nurseries but ive not done the more accurate cutting until active growth.

i would cut that sub trunk flush because it will eventually cause swelling. by leaving the low branch on it should help the area to heal over after the big sub removal and that branch can also be used in the design and might increase taper in the lower half of the trunk over time, i imagine there is a decent sized root feeding that side of the tree.

ps

looking at it all again maybe you can just cut that sub at the red you marked and assess before doing anything drastic. have a look at leaf drop!
 
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i dont think i would take off the low branch on the bottom left though but i might be inclined to cut off the sub trunk just above it flush to the trunk, it seems like you left it quite long going by where your red line is.
btw ive chopped maples over winter when ive picked them up from nurseries but ive not done the more accurate cutting until active growth.
Ha! Funny, I just edited my post to consider that option as well. I'm considering removing the lower right branch as well, but that isn't a major decision.

When you say you've chopped them overwinter, you mean less significant cuts that I'm planning? The opinions on these chops for maples is so varied - some of the well-regarded resources suggest fall (after leaves turn) is the best time because it won't bleed or callous too aggressively, but it is a big time for vascular growth, while chopping in the summer results in a bigger flush of growth and more aggressive callousing. One think I do think is important for fall is removing the apical buds/meristem ASAP after leaves fall/turn for the tree to allocate resources to other buds. It seems most folks on this thread are suggesting I do the biggest chops in the spring, such as when I see buds swell.
 
ive chopped them whenever but usually more precise cuts in active growth.
but as you can see here ive chopped them in oct too, you see i pick up a lot of trees over winter, if i dont chop there n then they wont fit in my car😁
Post in thread 'Japanese Maple material' https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/japanese-maple-material.36982/post-690094
 
you see from here its looks like that section of trunk is going to be too long, too straight and too heavy. so no i wont make any drastic removals until i can see what im doing,
 

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you see from here its looks like that section of trunk is going to be too long, too straight and too heavy. so no i wont make any drastic removals until i can see what im doing,
yep, even up to the inside branch that could take over as the leader, it might be too long without movement. I definitely don't plan to make any cuts until after leaf drop. I might trim and do some wiring to move any smaller branches that I might keep into place. Then I'll have to decide about cuts in the spring (or air layering, but we'll see how patient I am).
 
A couple better shots. Mayne more when leaves deep
 

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Just an update... I was able to root a few cuttings when I did primary structural pruning.

I have a few more branches to remove midsummer in terms of structural pruning now that I see how the tree responded. Namely too many thin back branches. I'll keep two. An eye poker that is a bar branch with a back branch that I will keep. Lastly, I think I'll remove that bottom right branch. Even if I cut it shorter, it's still duplicating the branch above it.

And I think I'll have a lot of secondary branch selection to do in the fall! One of my favorite trees right now in development - pretty leaves and growing so fast.
 
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