procumbens and a lot of common mistakes.

[IIIROYIII]

I made almost every mistake possible with this tree. However, it is still alive, and is one of my favorite trees. A few branches slightly split with the aggressive bending I did this spring, implementing its new design. So I stopped styling it part way through, and have allowed it to recover. Thankfully I did not lose any branches (there aren't many left ) It is much taller now, because I did not realize how far down below the soil the roots actually started. I feel that in years to come I will be able to reduce a lot of the reverse taper with some careful carving.
Here is the before:

 

[IIIROYIII]

Here is how the tree stands today:

 

[DesertPanda]

Out of curiosity, do you plan on smoothing out the jin and shari? I keep seeing some of the more developed trees and any areas of deadwood on them seem to be almost sanded smooth. I have not tried it yet on anything (intentionally at least) and wondered.

 

[october]

Hello Roy... I like the second pic as the front...If I may.. This tree has some really great potential as a classic bunjin. Here are a couple of virts of what I see. The first virt is at the current angle, the second one is with the tree tilted to the left. Now, although in bonsai the general rule is that the foliage flows in the direction of the trunk. In this case and also with it being a bunjin, I think it works very well the way it is. It could tell a story that it started growing in one direction then due to the elements, started to grow in another direct. As far as carving, I wouldn't go too crazy, I would touch up what you have.

If you like my virt, but feel yo udon not have the experince to pull it off. I would seek out a club or teacher who can guide yo ualong. I see an absolutely beuatiful bonsai here... You are lucky to have this mateiral.

As far as the reverse taper. I see it on the very bottom. If you can reemove enough of hte bottom root ball, you can raise the soli lever a little bit to cover the bottom.

I hope this was helpful. I love this material.
Rob

 

[nathanbs]

nice virts! nice tree!