What Would You Do With This Shimpaku?

Cathie

Thomas, is it possible you're too 'close' to the tree and have become fixated on what you see as thin branches, when in fact while they aren't 'fat', they're not way out of proportion to the rest of it, and do suit the style, though I do agree with Naturestart that a wide and shallower pot would be a good idea, plus a bit of filling in to avoid any lollipop look. I think it's quite nice myself! I do hope you keep it and not be hung up on a matter of millimeters.

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anttal63

thomas my take is chop it.

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Antonio . . .
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Vonsgardens

ThomasJ,
I wouls suggest thinning the foliage by 1/2 or so. Pruning to get structure along the length of the end of the branches, less of the pom-pom look. Then I would wire and and adjust, bringing the branch ends down a bit. This should allow for some back budding along the branch and giving you the opportunity to bring the tree back in a bit, to make it more compact.

Have yu had a chance to discuss this Sylvia and Howard? Seeing the tree in person culd be a bit more informative.

John.

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"Wiring is simple; However, it is not easy to do it right" Boon

kingkong

I come from the 'relaxed' style camp. I wouldn't touch it. Makes a nice presentation as is.

Thomas_J.

Okay,
You guys (and gal) have forced my hand. Here's a pic taken with a white background in daylight. What do you see now? Not very impressive looking is it? One of those ones that you move to the back of the table and will probably forget about. But as I said I really like shimpakus and this is one of only two that I presently have. Something must be done.

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Thomas J.

Thomas_J.

And here's the part that really bugs me, the top. It looks like something from a hedge rather than a bonsai that has been worked on for six years. There's not much that can be done with this top without doing a major restyling.

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Thomas J.

malhaku

(keep in mind I am a bonsai newbie so if my recommendations are just wacky and offbase, just ignore em..hehe)

I think the tree is a nice tree that just needs a little organizing. I don't know how much you can wire/adjust the branches with the age and maturity of the tree, but I think you can improve the tree with just some simple adjustments.

It seems like you have a lot of branches and their foilage patches invading the same spaces. (For example, the second patch up on the left looks like it could be coming from either of the main branches above or below and looks odd.) In relation to that, it seems to have strong main branches with the secondary ones jutting off in odd directions. If possible, I would rewire all the branches and do 3 things... 1) Adjust the lines of the branches so the sections from thick to thin are not so drastic. 2) give the paths of the foilage more definition and not have multiple patches overlapping. 3) Turn the ends of the branches a bit (It seems like the spread of foilage is vertical... rotating to horizontal would clean up the image and also give a look of thicker foilage.)

As for the top... I think cutting out some of those branches in there will give it less of a bush look. Also, I think it will really help to not have the next to highest branch on the right colliding with the top.

Finally, I would give thought about giving the lowest branch on the right the chop.

Anyway, that's just my 2 (or 6) cents.

Edit: Just wanted to add in case it didn't come through. I do like the tree and think it's very nice looking as it is. Also, the suggestions I made were based on looking at the picture with the white background.

CScott

I was ready to do a "chopped" virtual but decided to try the open look. Has this tree ever been wired? It doesn't look like it. Before doing anything drastic I agree with trying John's approach. What's another year or two on the back bench?

Carmen

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marcovgv

this is my favorite virt so far. i agree encourage back budding, it currently feels like the foliage it to far our there from the trunk. This style dose it for me.
marco