english hawthorn /snowed in

discusmike

Omono
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elkton,MD
USDA Zone
7a
This is a english hawthorn I aquired a few yrs. Ago, it was originally much taller with inverse taper an a couple of nasty scars, I decided to trunk chop to create taper n get rid of the bad flaws, this past spring I cut some of the root ball then let it grow, it started pushing branches, I plan on cutting some more of the rootball in spring n continueing branch growth.It has a 21/4" base, 13" tall and has no graft, has yet to flower, bark just starting to crack.Do you guys think I'm heading in the right direction with the styleing, or should I change things, help appreciated.being snowed in has given me a chance to catch up on some trees.
 

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I have buds pushing at the start of the new leader and a inch up, hopefully ill get more branching
 
And I planing on reduceing the chop, I left some incase of dieback, sorry about crappy pic, tree looks better in person
 
It's hard to assess the tree from the photo; the base is hidden, the trunk is blurry, and while I can see where you're going, I don't think the current branch arrangement will get there.

A few thoughts came to mind:

1. Bjorn and Owen both say that many of our bonsai in the US have "long necks", which makes the overall design seem disconnected and not powerful. Working with them, a main goal is to always compact the design.

2. Letting the leader grow unrestrained instead of being wired will create a second section of trunk more quickly, improving movement and taper.

3. Consider unwiring the second section of trunk, call it practice, and let the tree develop that second section over the next few years. Then you can carve away the first chop scar to create a more graceful transition.

4. Depending on your final design goal (informal upright with a central leader from which all branches emerge, or broom style, where the branches emerge from a single point on the trunk), the primary branches on the main trunk may not be part of the final design. At any rate, get more movement in the first 2" of those primary branches. The first 2" will be all you use as the tree develops more density through secondary branches. They need to have interest, and it's much easier to get that movement while the branches are still relatively thin.
 
Here is a closeup of the trunk with a littlebetter lighting
 

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