Recently purchased, I haven't done any work on it other than keep it alive this winter. I can't decide if I want to keep it feminine, slender, tall and work on the branches, or try to fatten the trunk up as much as i can and shorten it. Any thoughts? I am very new to bonsai by the way, go easy on me!
First of all, welcome to bonsai world.
I think you make good decision to let the tree accommodate with the new environment prior to any work.
It is up to you to decide what style for the tree because you are the one to look at the tree every day!
I saw some defects in A and B?
I think these two lower branches are too straight upward. They make the tree look young. I would bring them down as green lines.
If you want to fat up the lower trunk, you may have to leave these 3 branches grow uncheck but keep an eye on this area to make sure it will not become a bulging issue. Those branches in pink circle I would remove them.
But don't follow my words. It is up to your style.
p/s: elm is very good in response to pruning. You can remove all the branches at the winter. The tree will push out a lot of shoots in the spring. At that time, you can choose which one you want to keep for final image and remove others. It will have lot of fun to play with elm.
You may create the own post for this tree, so that other people can easy to give you their ideas and also easy for you to get back to your tree in the future!
Bonhe
