Nursery stock style advice

[damok]

Hi all,

I bought a 2nd treee (a backup tree) which has not had any work done to it, just slip potted last year into a large pond basket. Anyone care to give me some guidance so I dont do the drastic work as I did on this one? I was advised by Harry Harrington to do a trunk chop above the first large bar branches and then that could be styled into literati, but then Covid happened and my plans to meet with Harry went south, you can see in the image where he advised doing a chop, it's the white painted area. I can take an updated image as this one is old if easier to advise.

Idea is to eventually train it into literati style, something thats going to take many seasons I am aware.

 

[Vance Wood]

This tree is too young looking to be useful for anything other than raw material looking for a direction forward. You could cut the tree back to the Harrington trunk chop but you will not be able to get a decent literatti from that point, the internodes are too large. You need to stimulate the tree to start growing in the way it would being attacked by wildlife and bad environmental evernts. You need if you follow my advise, is to do some drastic cuts back to the lowest major junction. This might not be ideal but it will stimulate an abundance of new/back buds that are useful which is what you need to develop. So---as the tree is right now you need to practice a programed destruction in order to produce material that can be made into bonsai within a lifetime. I'm not talking about the ubiquitous informal upright, or literati plagued with all of the standard flaws observable from nursery material. By cutting back to the knuckles you wind up with trees that look as though they had been in a fight and lost. What is important is to cut out the knuckles where possible.

But we have proceeded to eating a sandwich now compared to a standing rib roast which will overwhelm you.

 

[sorce]

Sorce

 

[damok]

View attachment 307815

Sorce

About as helpfull as a chocolate teapot....

 

[August44]

What! You can eat a chocolate tea pot

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

What! You can eat a chocolate tea pot

Iced tea doesn't melt it.

I'm with Vance on this one.

 

[Vance Wood]

Iced tea doesn't melt it.

I'm with Vance on this one.

Almost everything I have done came from the nursery trade, this stuff I know.