Ume project

[Meh]

Here is an ume I've had a couple of years now, finally in a suitable bonsai pot:



And a quick sketch of where I was planning on taking it:



But the longer I stare at it, the more that straight section in the trunk irks me. And all my sketch does is frame it and make it even more irksome. The painful - but long run, probably better - option would be to chop it. I could continue building the trunk or build something off of that first branch...and in either scenario I probably shouldn't have just put it in a bonsai pot. Argh. Here is a quick sketch of a very different possible future:



But maybe I'm overthinking it? I tend to focus on the negative. I would welcome some input on it.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

If it bugs you now, it’s going to bug you more later...best to deal with it now before you invest a bunch of time building branches on it. cut It, and move it into a big training pot for a year, and you’ll have a new trunk section to work with.

 

[luvinthemountains]

For my first several years in bonsai, it was always with the chop chop. I am now gaining a new appreciation for tall, slender trees, and a feeling that in fact a lot of wonderful trees are ruined by the instinct to eliminate "flaws" like your "straight" section. Your first virtual feels much more peaceful to me than the second. But the second is not a bad plan, either. Nice tree.

 

[Meh]

If it bugs you now, it’s going to bug you more later...best to deal with it now before you invest a bunch of time building branches on it. cut It, and move it into a big training pot for a year, and you’ll have a new trunk section to work with.

Thanks Brian. You're right, of course. Would it bug you?

 

[Adair M]

You need to cut back the long extensions of last year’s growth, no matter what you decide to do.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks Brian. You're right, of course. Would it bug you?

Yep.

Prunus mume stock from Evergreen Gardenworks

Here is an ume I bought from Brent in a 1-gal can in January 2010. It was planted deep, and I potted it higher when I transplanted it to that terra cotta pot (bottom of the photo) a couple months later, somewhere around a 1/2" thick trunk. The tree after 4 seasons in the ground. The tag is...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Meh]

Yep.