Trident Maple Pre-Bonsai Material

[jcham21]

I purchased this trident maple in June 2011 and just let it grow for the rest of the season:







It survived the winter in the ground and the buds started to swell last week, so I performed a root pruning and repot:

 

[jcham21]

Side view of the roots:



Prepared wooden training pot with a mix of turface, pumice, aquarium gravel, and bark:




Here it is just potted up:



And today, with the leaves starting to come out more:



The tree trunk is too straight and too tall, with no taper, so I'm thinking a low air layer will be the best route forward, somewhere above the second branch. Then follow a clip-and-grow routine as outlined in "Bonsai with Japanese Maples" by Adams. I'm thinking this will be a fairly short tree since the trunk is around 1" or so.

I would like suggestions on different directions for this material.

Thanks,

James

 

[jcham21]

I'm thinking of going in this direction:



What about chopping to the point in the above image now and attempting to root the top as a cutting this season?

I started some cuttings with last seasons growth and the leaves appear to be coming out:



Would a 1" thick cutting take?

Thanks,

James

 

[JudyB]

You have started well here. The root structure you are making now will be defining for the tree down the road.
Looks like you've chosen a good chop point, plant your 1"cutting and see, it's a trident, it might take! And you have nothing to loose...
Good work.