Rate my boxwood bonsai and styling suggestions.

[brennobonsai]

I wish you could rate my tree and tell me what you would change or recommendations. I wanted to do it in the kabudachi style (clump trunk) but I think the middle trunk is thin and very straight but I don't know how to solve this



thanks for helping me!!!

 

[AnutterBonsai]

A smaller pot would make it look bigger. You got a nice thick trunk and the twin style is good since the bigger trunk is straight. Giving your second one more character will help a ton. At this point I guess ramification is the rest of its development.
I have heard from people on this forum saying that typically your smaller trunk will have the lowest branch of the two trees.

 

[brennobonsai]

A smaller pot would make it look bigger. You got a nice thick trunk and the twin style is good since the bigger trunk is straight. Giving your second one more character will help a ton. At this point I guess ramification is the rest of its development.
I have heard from people on this forum saying that typically your smaller trunk will have the lowest branch of the two trees.

Cool! I'll get him a smaller pot and work on the branch. I thought I'd put it in a big shallow pot to develop a better nebari. Do you think it would be a good option?

 

[AnutterBonsai]

Cool! I'll get him a smaller pot and work on the branch. I thought I'd put it in a big shallow pot to develop a better nebari. Do you think it would be a good option?

That’s a good question. I wish I could give you a definite answer as I’m only on my second year on this bonsai lifestyle, so take my words with a grain of salt. Maybe someone else can jump in here with more experience and help out as well. I’d say as long as you got good soil, nebari development is good on that pot meanwhile. Do you have a close up pic of the current state of the nebari in progress?

 

[brennobonsai]

That’s a good question. I wish I could give you a definite answer as I’m only on my second year on this bonsai lifestyle, so take my words with a grain of salt. Maybe someone else can jump in here with more experience and help out as well. I’d say as long as you got good soil, nebari development is good on that pot meanwhile. Do you have a close up pic of the current state of the nebari in progress?

Lol I've been in bonsai for two years too.unfortunately I don't have any pic. As I had never worked well with the species I didn't remove much of the root ball and didn't expose the roots much but from what I saw it was very thin compared to the base. I think in the next repot season I'll put it in a bigger and shallow pot.

 

[Shibui]

A shallow pot won't always improve nebari. Proper, regular root pruning is a much quicker and accurate way to improve nebari but many beginners are too frightened to do it that way.

Back to the design:
Clump style looks great but you need a clump to work with. I'd be looking in a different direction for this one as it doesn't have the requisite multi trunk trunk structure.
Twin trunk is more possible.

One of the problems that jumps out is the very straight main trunk. Also no taper and probable reverse taper toward the top where it has a cluster of thick branches.
The trunk is probably way too thick to bend and adjusting the taper will require some special techniques but you can definitely remove some or all of the thick branches to stop the problem getting worse. Thinner branches near the apex look much better anyway.
Before cutting any of the branches check to see if one could be a replacement apex. That could get rod of the thickest parts and give much better taper but will depend on the angles of those branches. Check from all sides. A different viewing angle of adjustment to the planting angle could improve the look and allow one of the upper branches to be used.
View the low right branch as optional for now if a different front leaves that branch at the back you could consider chopping it if the new view is good enough.

 

[brennobonsai]

I thought that root pruning was only for branching the roots, I didn't know that it also helped to have a better nebari.

I've been thinking about the some of the main trunk branches but I didn't know if I would improve or worsen the tree.

I've been thinking about making a double trunk but I was in doubt because of this here where the branches come from. Still think it's possible to try a double trunk with this structure here?




if i remove the left branch i thought of that angle for the twin trunks. I would lean a little to the right too maybe

Sorry for my bad english. I'm still learning.

 

[Shibui]

Your lowest branch is still a bit too high for traditional twin trunk. Usually try to have the fork as low as possible for multi trunk designs but design is individual. If you like something then go for it. Juts need to have thick skin when all the armchair critics start telling you how wrong it is whenever you go outside the accepted guidelines.

Even with twin and multi trunk design taper and branch structure is important. Whatever shape you go for the heavy to of the main trunk should be addressed.

 

[brennobonsai]

Your lowest branch is still a bit too high for traditional twin trunk. Usually try to have the fork as low as possible for multi trunk designs but design is individual. If you like something then go for it. Juts need to have thick skin when all the armchair critics start telling you how wrong it is whenever you go outside the accepted guidelines.

Even with twin and multi trunk design taper and branch structure is important. Whatever shape you go for the heavy to of the main trunk should be addressed.

I'll try to lower the branches more to try to adapt more to the style then. The truth is that I bought this plant a lot on impulse, you know? I hadn't given much thought to her structure and didn't really know much about these things. At the time my knowledge (which is still not much) was less than what I have now. The first trees we have are more for learning even so I'm trying to take it more calmly about the design of this plant. I'll try to focus for now on thickening the tree maybe.

Thank you for your time and for guiding me!

 

[Shibui]

The truth is that I bought this plant a lot on impulse, you know? I hadn't given much thought to her structure and didn't really know much about these things. At the time my knowledge (which is still not much) was less than what I have now. The first trees we have are more for learning even so I'm trying to take it more calmly about the design of this plant. I'll try to focus for now on thickening the tree maybe.

I think everyone goes through this stage.
Once you recognize that the initial trees have issues you can make a decision to retain them as is or to use them as sacrificial plants to learn new techniques.
Thickening the trunk may take a lot longer than you think, especially boxwood which are not known for fast growth.
Most beginners seem to be frightened of pruning. I've come to the realization that pruning is often the fastest way to achieve most bonsai goals.

All the best with any changes you decide to try with this one.