G'day wierdowl,
Boxwood, hmm, don't think that it is deciduous, well at least not over here where I'm writing from.
Very nice tree you've got there, may I suggest that you think Slanting style, [added interest] looks to me that you've tilted your tree to upright it in your photographs, yep, nope?
Wires quite well, 6months should do it to get you on the road,
lives outside, have heard that there's a little maybe for an indoor location.
Slow grower, some say, pruning needs to be very careful, half clipped leaves look unsightly so extra care needs to be taken.
If you half-clip a leaf by accident, carefully remove it entirely, use a magnifying glass, and try to leave some of it's miniscule petiole.
Height reduction can be quite drastic, your tree, your decision, but as you say it's 9 inches, perhaps think 6 inches, what kinda pot do you plan, what size, as for an example if you look into my gallery you'll see a finger-tip Buxus there [got it inside for a few days at the moment, in a cold well-lit corner, our temperatures are jumping between +10 to -5 centigrade, and the poor little thing just might freeze to death, and I don't want that.]
Spring time is the best time for any real work to be done, think positive, patience is one of the more important tools for any bonsai-ist.
Hopefully we shall see what you have done with it after spring has sprung?
ozzerbon
