Well, it's large, and it's a tree with potentially pretty foliage. That's the end of its positive attributes. It's not hardly worth wasting my time on, most likely, except for the "challenge" aspect, which I masochistically enjoy.
It's challenges are as follows.
The twin trunks are positioned in a manner typical for this type of tree - a rather butt-ugly configuration that detracts a bit from even the best of these trees as bonsai in my experience. My solution may be some deadwood carving down there in the saddle somehow, or perhaps even killing/carving one whole side. Tilting - so that one is much more vertical than the other - and rotating the piece to foreshorten and give the illusion of a different shape - may also soften the effect, and of course making one top considerably lower than the other would help as well, although the next paragraph points out the limits of that as well.
I'd be better off if there was at least some proximal foliage on a very low branch somewhere - there is not. And these trees never back bud, not even an inch. If I had even one little sprig to develop down low, and especially one between the trunks, I'd be jumping for joy with the possibilities, but of course a tree in nature doesn't have any need for such branches and they die off early in development typically. Even before we got this tree, those types of branches died off early, and growing freely in the yard you can see that all the low or inner or proximal foliage - especially between the trunks - died back in the shade of the more robust foliage above and distal. The best I can hope for is some inspired wiring to bring some of the more malleable branches down into areas that soften the goal post image.
The remaining foliage, and, since it never back buds, the remaining foliage
possibilities is at least six inches out on any given branch. Branches wire easily into contortions and undulations, and can be brought in and down to provide any area with at least some, BUT - MHs are notorious for their response to wiring. The wiring will not "set" for a very long time, and even after it seems to it will slowly lose the set and phototropically bend back where it wants. It also has the notorious tendency to - often almost overnight - develop huge, thick growth/scars around wrapped wire if not watched
very carefully.
So, those are my thoughts. Not sure I will even bother if it dies back much more after my cleaning out pruning yesterday. But, with no expectations of achieving anything impressive, I will have free rein to get as creative as I want, and who knows - maybe have a bit of fun with it. Jason G. and I have had some forum discussions before about the salutary effects to be had from seeking styling inspiration via various microbrews: Perhaps some Old Crustacean barley ale, or Dogfish Head 120 on an afternoon when the ambient lighting is just right will bring the muse my way.
