1st air layer attempt

[sfeagan]

I have this japanese maple in my front yard that I think is a bloodgood maple. Last summer half of it started dying but I wanted to wait until now to see if the other half would pop out. As you can see in the picture it has survived so far but my wife doesn't like it there anymore and we have decided to plant a larger red maple for shade. I made three air layers this weekend and figure if they work I'll try and dig up the two remaining trees after more buds pop. I'm not sure if any of these will make a good bonsai, if not I'll have fun trying. Would love to hear your opinions.

 

[Shibui]

Hope you have some success. You will certainly be able to do something with both layers and the stump but I'm not sure any will yield really great bonsai without many years of work. Trunk sections look too long and straight with no real taper which are all really important for maple bonsai.
In the past I made lots of layers on garden trees thinking I would get instant bonsai. None turned out to be so and I have not kept any of those. There's always a chance I am wrong or that you are a much better grower but, as you say, at the very least you will have had the experience.
Enjoy the experience.