[QUOTE=jloeschner] I am still leaning towards a more feminine style, so too much girth would be undesireable. Of course, if it decides to get fat, I can always change to fit the tree...
Who said it can't be feminine and big; big girls need lovin' too!
Just Kidding!
But seriously, I don't think the roots will be a problem. I don't see why you would have to do any root pruning if it is going into a
larger container. You could just change the soil and rake out the nebari to get it growing in a nice flat, circular direction and pot it up. On the topic of cost, find a local nursery that supplies the landscapers in your area. They are usually multi acre, field grown nurseries that you can drive your car through the rows. Go to the trident maples, or any other deciduous species that will do well with a trunk chop, and look at nothing but trunk taper and nebari. Find one that is fat and well-tapered and buy it, then the fun part is when you cut all the branches off in front of the owner--you'll get some strange looks! Anyway, cut it down to a stump and apply cut past before you leave the nursery. At home you should have a prepared growing box. Remove
all the nursery soil and trim the roots appropriately for the growing box; then pot it. At the end of the day, you can have a large trident stump for a lot less money than you would spent at Brussels, and in 10-20 years you might have a specimen quality tree. Depending on your location, your nursery may sell a popular tree for the landscape for cheap that would make a great bonsai specimen. I've about finished sieving my soil and builing my growing boxes for the new season, so I'll probably be making a trip to the nursery myself pretty soon. I'll try to remember to take some pics of my findings. Hope some of this rambling helped.
All the best,
JDL