Look at what I did with my Mark Comstock maple!

[Deleted member 21616]

things got very crowded very fast in this kiyohime!

the tree still has 5 trunks, two of which split low enough that will eventually make this kabudachi look like a 7 trunk tree

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Another kiohime from Mark I picked up from Mark In kannapolis a year and change ago. No before pics, which is too bad because I did a load of work on the roots, flattening them and screwing it to a board, along with some trunk cutbacks. Any way, some before and after pics from today’s session... more root and top work.
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Very nice!

 

[BobbyLane]

good idea getting movement in early.i think clumps/rafts can be very interesting if you can manage to get movement plus taper in all the trunks rather than a bunch of trunks of similar shape n size, the latter can still be nice.
you might like these

 

[Deleted member 21616]

@BobbyLane two really nice inspiration pictures, thank you! And yes I totally agree. I am a fan of thin and elegant maples, and i'm in it for the long-haul, meaning i would prefer to get the movement in as it comes, rather than grow thick trunks quickly, choose leaders, and chop.

The second picture is @William N. Valavanis Beni Chidori!! I absolute love that tree - it's hard to capture how delicate and sophisticated its movement is with a 2D picture. I regret not taking a shot from overhead! It is definitely my primary source of inspiration for this kiyo hime, and it's funny that we both saw that! (i guess i've become pretty predictable about where i find inspiration LOL)

 

[BobbyLane]

@BobbyLane two really nice inspiration pictures, thank you! And yes I totally agree. I am a fan of thin and elegant maples, and i'm in it for the long-haul, meaning i would prefer to get the movement in as it comes, rather than grow thick trunks quickly, choose leaders, and chop.

The second picture is @William N. Valavanis Beni Chidori!! I absolute love that tree - it's hard to capture how delicate and sophisticated its movement is with a 2D picture. I regret not taking a shot from overhead! It is definitely my primary source of inspiration for this kiyo hime, and it's funny that we both saw that! (i guess i've become pretty predictable about where i find inspiration LOL)

ah ok, im a fan of both approaches. growing heavy trunks in the field and then chopping, works exceptionally well.
i didnt know that was William's tree, i stored it for inspiration when growing my trident raft in another thread.
of course, when growing trees in containers, its a little easier to manipulate trunks while still bendable. nice project