Japanese maple tree trimming and styling?

[Conrad6]

Hello everyone,

I purchased this Japanese maple for $50 from my local bonsai nursery. It will be living outside in partial sun, inside just for photos. I want to trim it up to remove some of the 'fluff', but am unsure how far down I should trim. I also heard trimming it could make it more twiggy and full which I think will look good with smaller leaves. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[leatherback]

Before you trim, make a plan. What do you see as your final image for this tree?

Were this my tree.. for me this tree is very tall with a thin trunk. I would seriously consider layering the top and use that for my bonsai, roughly as your last image shows. Maybe lower of higher, hard to tell from your pictures. The bottom part might sprout, depending on what they did to the trunk at the nursery. That would give you a start for a second tree.

 

[Shibui]

Trimming is the number 1 way to make trees bush out. We call that ramification.
You can cut new shoots back as far as needed. I frequently cut right back to the first pair of leaves. The tree responds by growing new shoots from dormant buds at the base of each leaf so instead of 1 shoot you now have 2 - double the ramification. The next time you trim there will be 4 new shoots. Each time doubling so you can see that ramification can build up quickly but only if you trim the new shoots. In reality it is not quite as straightforward as that but it does give a good idea of the process.

Leatherback's advice about a plan is good. just trimming the tree you have now will only give you a topiary - a ball of foliage on a tall thin stick. Bonsai should be about showing a tree that looks like a tree, preferably an old tree.
You can decide whether to embark on a longer term plan to make a really good bonsai or a short term journey to a ball on a stick.

 

[mattspinniken]

I agree that you should consider an air layer or 6 from this one.