So I water this and want to…

StPaddy

Mame
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Do something with it. Have had it a couple years, gave it a hard cutback and put it in this pot last spring…got a bunch of juvenile foliage. I keep watering and feeding it and think it looks kinda cliche. Maybe I have just looked at it too long. I don’t know. Thinking of cramming it in a 4” cascade pot, keeping the foliage on the right, and jinning stubs for the rest. Kind of like a sideways literati.
Any opinions? Either that or I might give it just look at it another year. Or give it to my sister in law. She’s always drooling over it. Here’s two pics showing what I am thinking. Sorry for the third grade markup. I suck at markup on my phone. And I’m bored and too lazy to fire up the bigger machine. 85B9175A-7180-45A6-93F8-3C083AE8834D.jpeg53E37F49-45C4-472C-9A58-7918E27473D7.jpeg
 

ShadyStump

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I'm a fan of looks that play with the negative space, and I see this already on that path. Just fill in the spaces between the pads with your tertiary branching over the next year or two, so that it looks like one big pad supported above the main trunk line.
Essentially, take it's present look to the extreme, I guess.
 

StPaddy

Mame
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I'm a fan of looks that play with the negative space, and I see this already on that path. Just fill in the spaces between the pads with your tertiary branching over the next year or two, so that it looks like one big pad supported above the main trunk line.
Essentially, take it's present look to the extreme, I guess.
That’s where I have been heading. Just getting bored I guess. I know whatever I do I will keep looking at it while I mull it over. Just wondered if I’m nuts for thinking sideways literati. I have been looking at literati forms in my free time a lot lately.
 

ShadyStump

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That’s where I have been heading. Just getting bored I guess. I know whatever I do I will keep looking at it while I mull it over. Just wondered if I’m nuts for thinking sideways literati. I have been looking at literati forms in my free time a lot lately.
I think we all do it from time to time. Outside of nursery stock, which I often have an idea of when I pick it, I'll stare at a tree forever until something clicks.
 

Potawatomi13

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Any desire for bigger trunk(normally first priority)or happy with skinny one🤔.
 
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Capture.JPG
Bear in mind that i'm no expert, i'd want to get a bit of flow/movement in that straight section of trunk before reaching the canopy.

I'd change the potting angle slightly forward to also help with flow and slowly reduce the the amount of branches.
 

Srt8madness

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My vote - Give it to your sister in law, as long as she keeps it outside, she'll remember that much more favorably than a tree you're "meh" about.
 

Wood

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With a little wiring and pruning, you could get this tree to start developing pads pretty easily. To my eyes, you've currently got one bare branch, one mega pad, and one oddball pad that are all parallel to the lip of the pot and the bench. It doesn't suggest much movement or direction to the tree, and the bare branch doesn't hold much interest
current_pads.jpg

Adding a little angle to just the first branch creates a lot movement to the tree. It also gives the tree apex and a directional branch. You'd only need a single guy wire between the main trunk and branch to accomplish this. With a little pruning over the next couple seasons, you could define branches at the blue lines. They're all different sizes and on different levels, which creates a lot more interest
wired.jpg

Adding more wire to the secondary brances would let you pull the pads closer to the trunk and branches, and obscure the branch, which creates an impression of fullness. Creating a small counterbalancing branch to the left of the apex gives the tree a sense of age
compacted.jpg
 

bwaynef

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How confident are you in bending the thickest part of this trunk? At/near the first branch?
 

BonScience

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Honestly i really like it how it is. Or maybe get a tall pot and rotate it 90* clockwise so the main branch points straight up and down and start developing the pads there. But maybe the lower trunk/root situation makes that hard to pull off. I also like the idea Wood mentioned by adding a little angle to it. Or send it to me 🙃
 
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