Fat Japanese Maple, where to chop?

nickbachman

Sapling
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Just picked up this fat kashima palmatum. The top is a jumble of options, I plan on trying for some cuttings. I bought it with the intent of some sort of sumo, but I'm not sure how far I should take it down. Thoughts on where to cut? I'm not afraid of starting from a stump, as that was the initial idea. But I thought I'd get some opinions before the big haircut.
IMG_1523.JPG IMG_1524.JPG IMG_1525.JPG IMG_1526.JPG IMG_1529.JPG
 

Smoke

Ignore-Amus
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Absolutely don't cut or chop anything. This is a dream tree. This tree only needs very careful selection of branches to keep and a couple years ramification to be a very, very beautiful tree. This is absolutely not sumo material. It is too good to ruin.

Am I making myself clear on this. No butchering please.
 

fredman

Masterpiece
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WoW that is one beautiful start off tree. Man how lucky can one be. All you need now is some virt specialists....Following this eagerly !!!
 

Dav4

Drop Branch Murphy
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Absolutely don't cut or chop anything. This is a dream tree. This tree only needs very careful selection of branches to keep and a couple years ramification to be a very, very beautiful tree. This is absolutely not sumo material. It is too good to ruin.

Am I making myself clear on this. No butchering please.
I completely agree. This tree has the bones to make a very nice informal broom style. You've got all the sub trunks already there and they don't need any more growing out. I'd want to cut them back hard and start developing branches. Great material.
 

Djtommy

Omono
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Very nice stuff, if you chop something let it be just shorten some of the trunks but turning this into a sumo would be a big waste of nice material i bet many people are hoping to find
 

JudyB

Queen of the Nuts
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Crazy that a guy in LA finds a find like that from an east coaster if that is true...
I am in agreement of course with the others, what a great start on a terrific broom. Google Kashima bonsai images, you'll find lots of inspiration there as these are good subjects for brooms. Also read up on the species as they grow a bit differently than other maples, good luck, and keep up updated!
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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This tree only needs very careful selection of branches t

Like one of the 2's at the base....yes?

And that's about it!

So chop everything?

Hell yeah Nick! Lol...

Sometimes "score" doesn't cut it....

This is like a buzzerbeater from downtown.....
A glass breaking dunk.....
A winning touchdown with a dance in a pink thong ......
A hole in one....(Tiger Style)
A KO.....
A glove that don't fit.....
A child that has a vest on and actually walks away from a police encounter....
Al putting buckshot in those house thiefs...
A deflated football.....
The Cubs not sucking.....
A cross-ice slapshot goal.....
A marlin......
An 8lb Smallmouth......
A rubberduckie.........
A rubbereddickie.......

Nice!

Sorce
 

Brian Van Fleet

Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
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As someone who has grown trees with too-long branches in the past, I would advise making some cuts, at the right time, with the right tutelage...which is a live-in-person kind of arrangement.

It is good stock, but allow me to be critical. When I look at this tree, after I get past the large pruning scar front and center on the trunk, I begin to see a bundle of asparagus spears. This absolutely will not improve on its own, and actually, in my experience, it gets worse because you invest time and effort building that beautiful ramification on top of the problem. It makes it emotionally difficult to make the cuts you needed to make in the first place. Right now, you are at "the first place".

Here is what I see:
image.jpeg image.jpeg
The long, straight, taperless branches should be replaced with shorter branch sections which introduce taper:
image.jpeg image.jpeg
In a few years, your tree will be very close to the size and volume it is now, but built on a better, tapering set of branches:
image.jpeg
 

davetree

Omono
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Brian, would you make these cuts all at once in springtime ? Or would you proceed differently ? Thanks, I am asking because I have a couple of stock maples like this.
 

ColinFraser

Masterpiece
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It's hard to argue with @Brian Van Fleet on this one - nice though it is now, there are a lot of long straight taperless branches. A compact canopy on tapering branches on this trunk would really be awesome. Perhaps one step back in order to take two forward is worthwhile . . .
 

Rid

Shohin
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As i'm looking at this tree, i would have thought the bulge where all of the branches meet would be considered reverse taper? I'm not disagreeing with the others here, i am only trying to learn
 
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