Chinese Pepper (Xanthoxylum Piperitum) Suggestions

[Arch1]

Hi folks,
To make a very long story short, I was basically gifted ~2 year Chinese Pepper bonsai a while back. It was originally in less than stellar condition - was barely being watered at one stage, and had lots of leaves falling.
After a discussion with a local shop owner specializing in Bonsai trees, i swapped and wired it to a more appropriate pot with new soil, placed it indoors where it gets sufficient shaded sunlight, and by at this stage it seems to be doing better and is barely shedding any leaves.
While I do have a green thumb, I am new to bonsai, so I'm wondering what you think I should do with it moving forward. How do you think it should be wired, should I cut some of the smaller branches, etc.? Open to any and all suggestions and tips.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cypress187]

Grow it fat, chop it low.
Welcome to the forum!

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Crazy Diamond]

They always label these species wrong, they are Operculicarya decaryi from Madagascar not chinese peper

 

[Arch1]

Grow it fat, chop it low.

How exactly do i "grow it fat"? And do you mean I should cut the top branch off?

 

[Cypress187]

How exactly do i "grow it fat"? And do you mean I should cut the top branch off?

It's quite high and thin. You might want to consider making it smaller and give it more taper. Trunk chops do both those things. The tree needs to be strong, and you need to do it in the right season. I don't know how much back-budding this species has, you should research it before doing anything (some species don't like thunk chops).

 

[tanlu]

They always label these species wrong, they are Operculicarya decaryi from Madagascar not chinese peper

Do you have more information (linked references) on this? I’m growing out a Sichuan peppercorn (one of several Zanthoxylum species used in Sichuan cuisine) and the North American Zanthoxylum species (z. Americanum). None of which look like the plant that bonsai vendors keep calling Chinese pepper tree or Japanese pepper tree. Even Wikipedia lumps this tree in the Zanthoxylum species family, which I also assume to be a mistake.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Do you have more information (linked references) on this? I’m growing out a Sichuan peppercorn (one of several Zanthoxylum species used in Sichuan cuisine) and the North American Zanthoxylum species (z. Americanum). None of which look like the plant that bonsai vendors keep calling Chinese pepper tree or Japanese pepper tree. Even Wikipedia lumps this tree in the Zanthoxylum species family, which I also assume to be a mistake.

My bad, I investigated the genus and neither they are operculicarya or zanthoxylum piperitum, the species sold as comercial bonsai its Zanthoxylum beecheyanum

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