@PABonsai I don't know of you missed this in my rant.
Pic
View attachment 266100
Further. This tree is rookie move after rookie move. But it seems living enough to keep teaching you!
For me, unless you're grafting(not worth the effort), the entire top is useless, cept for Dem cuttings, which can be used for trade, later grafting, trees, so don't discount them. It's like having bonsai currency, shimpaku cuttings are.
I like to leave an entire plan b branch at the bottom. Why? Their potential to cause problems is Nil. The benefits are many ..
And if you gotta use em for an entire plan B, well, some great trees have been made from plan B!
That lower left branch is essentially your plan b branch. Many and close still useable branches. It can provide you with excellence if you allow it.
Before plan B though...
We try to use the whole tree, this is important for both health and design options. So,
I look for something interesting low to make a purchase and work up (in mind) to see what else can be useful in a design to compliment that interest. Then keep going up till you find a piece that just won't work, not many branches, too straight, etc..
And (in mind) design your tree from there.
But still don't cut anything off.
When you identify what will make your FUTURE tree, isolate it, but don't remove everything else.
This tree can be said to have been isolated to that first left branch. Leave everything as is to aid health, knowing it will be cut off in time.
Build your isolated tree and as it gains health, remove the other pieces.
Growing cycles end at the summer Solstice and before winter. This is when health should be assessed, and using this pic, and the new growth, identify the amount that can safely be removed, and still allow your tree enough foliage to let it grow.
Using pictures and keeping the foliage mass as large as it started, just slowly transferring growth to where your isolated future tree is, allows you to bonsai with healthy trees.
It's this "cup theory" which is really a method....
The tree upon receipt from the nursery is a healthy full cup. Keep it that full.
Remember, we see people like Smoke, and others with well controlled winters, take these trees back to near nothing, because they have a long enough season to regrow the foliage needed for life, or a greenhouse, or they understand it will be 2-3 years before revisiting the tree for pruning. They also prune before growth spurts.
I hope no one else has anything to say!
Sorce