how would you get to something like this

[thailand-steve]

i think this is very cool but not sure how to get to it. its hard to tell the size but i'm guessing about 1/2 to 3/4" in the main trunk.

clearly there is very little space for the roots so i'm guessing the roots and the trunk are pruned at the same time and a low branch is used as a leader. but i'm just not clear in the details.

also, about the deadwood part, it seems like stripping off the bark would shock the tree a lot. when and how would you do that?

here's a photoshoped version with the main tree only



that's what i would like to get to

 

[Nybonsai12]

attachment does not work for me.

 

[DougB]

Re:

Hard to tell but I don't think this is a forest, separate trees. Seems to be a raft. What does someone else think?

 

[jk_lewis]

how would you get to something like this

Only through a LOT of work and a good deal of time.

Or, you can go out and buy it.

 

[bonsai barry]

It's a very nice planting as it now stands. I'm not sure why you would try to get to the single tree. The other trees provide balance and their diminishing size suggest scale. Although the single tree you've chosen in the final photo is great, it's composition is weakened because it is exactly in the center of the rock, it would be stronger if it were off centered a bit.

 

[Poink88]

Hard to tell but I don't think this is a forest, separate trees. Seems to be a raft. What does someone else think?

Looks like 5 individual trees to me.