Fall repot of crape myrtle

[will0911]

Here is a crape myrtle i bought yesterday. It was in need of a repot so i figured i would show everyone.

as it was when i got it home......rootbound?!

leaves are pretty small so should reduce well:

All potted up and a bit pruned back:

as of now this is the "front" but its in a round pot so i will see how it develops and might change the front later. Comments welcome.

Thanks

Will B.

 

[hetesss]

Looks pretty good for nursery stock. One glaring problem I see is the bar branches. You never want branches directly across from each other, especially this low because it's not visually pleasing and will cause trunk taper problems. I'd suggest getting rid of the larger one on the right in your last pic.
Be patient and think of what you would like this tree to look like in 10-15 years, not in 2 years. If you simply put branches on this as is, it wouldn't make an inspiring bonsai. For instance, I would cut the leader and the fat back branch and develop the upper right branch as the trunk, continuing its movement toward the left. This would eventually make a nice "mother/daugher" style.
Here's a quick virt of what I'm talking about.

 

[will0911]

i havent decided a style yet i just cut it back to get lower branching and to induce back budding for future branches. I was thinking of making this tree look like an actual crape myrtle i see around my area, with two or three "trunks/branches that start from the same place and kinda grow into a vase shape when eventually the branches slowly weep down....so maybe i can get flowers. but that could change too as the tree grows into whatever it wants to be.

 

[jk_lewis]

I'd get rid of that long. straight center trunk. Those so-called "bar" branches can be modified to be the main branching of the trunk.

 

[will0911]

yeah i didnt want to cut it back too much...im still scarred from the last crape myrtle i did this past spring that took until july to even bud out. so im taking it slow with this one. ill wait till the buds are swelling next spring to cut it back more.