Vance Wood

I think it is a beautiful tree for the most part.

1.) keep the bottom branch for two reasons; one you like it, and I like it.
2.) the foliage pads need to be thinned a bit to expose some of the secondary branching. If you do not do this you will start to get some die back on the interior of the tree.

These are the things that I think need to be done, and not done.

There is one flaw that has not been pointed out but it is one I think you are going to have to think about and address in the future. The point above where the bend in the trunk takes place there is a visual anomaly because of the way the branches are aligned. The trunk, the right hand branch above the bend and the left hand branch above that one, together form a distracting "X" configuration. The problem that I see is that these branches form a visual continuation of the line ending at the trunk of the lower and upper branches directly above and below them. If your eye is a good as I believe it is you will see this. I believe it can be corrected with a little careful wiring to break up this relationship. It is almost like two pairs of bar branches crossing each other obliquely rather than the common horizontal bar branch.

I am not trying to demean this tree or unduly criticize it but this problem is going to cause you grief in a few years. Feel free to ignor this entire post if you think it is out of line. Remember I like the tree a lot and I think I can see how to make it better.

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The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa