David,
Thank you! Pines have always seemed so complex and difficult and slow-proceeding, that I've been scared to dive in. But I finally decided to take the plunge.
As for the lowest branch, I envision removing this branch in a few years. It's really low, and isn't really essential for the design, in my vision. However, I'm still very much in (the very early stages of) the
shu phase of the learning process - and so if my teacher says it stays, it stays. When he says it should go, it goes.
The height of the tree is just under two feet from the rim of the pot.
Cheers,
Carl