Originally Posted by Vonsgardens

Jackied,
Make your shrubby plant look like a tree. Typically go to a form that is familiar- make the little cotoneaster look like and elm or something like that.

The issue about styling everything to look like pnes is that most broad leaf trees out in nature don't look like pines. As is frequently said here, and elsewhere in the bonsai world- make your little tree look like a tree. It is just a farther reach for certain species and styles. Heck, I really like a lot of the bald cypres trees that are styled to lok like a redwood or other big mountain tree, some prefer to have them all look like something that belongs in the heart of the swamp.

The cutlural origins of bonsai being from cultures that tend to have a good deal of structure and "rules" has placed some of the guidelines that we tend to fallow in the art. Lot's of them are just based on a good sense of knowing what trees look like.

John