Maple styling discussion

[TreeJey]

Hi everyone, I have purchased a maple which I think provides a pretty good basis for the design. The tree currently has 3 trunks and I'm now wondering which one needs to go and how far. Of course, I won't be taking the hard step back until March, but I would be very grateful for your opinions.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

Just my initial thoughts based on the photos, the sub trunk marked for removal is straight and taperless.
Nice looking tree, small leaves.

 

[clem]

if the straight part isn't a pb for you, you could do a "naturalistic " tree.. And cut the branch crossing the trunk..

 

[Shibui]

Styling a bonsai from just a single photo from one angle is the surest way to not get the best results. There may be much better views of the structure that you have not shown us.

Just some observations:
Those 'trunks' are not really trunks in the bonsai sense. Bonsai 'trunks' should start close to the ground so this tree has 3 strong, upright branches. For Japanese maple that's no problem. @clem has already mentioned 'natural' style which I think is a great style for Japanese maples.
Without seeing the tree from different sides I'd be reluctant to reduce those branches back to 2. 2 branches tends to look like a slingshot. 3 branches helps to offset that look.

It is highly likely those strong branches will need to be cut back much shorter and regrown in order to get better ramification. Depends what standard you want to achieve with this tree.

 

[Youngling]

So many options. Just from this view, if you can reduce to something like this:

 

[Youngling]

You can start building it out like this:
Or similar.

 

[Maiden69]

I think that the little branch going out below the for will eventually create inverse taper on that area.

 

[TreeJey]

Wow that's a lot of options thanks for your assessment. @Youngling those are really cool drawings. Mega cool. During a bonsai seminar I was given the option of designing a strictly upright tree. What do you think, would that make sense? from my point of view the natural styling would also be a great choice. I'm curious to see what the tree will say once all the leaves have fallen.

 

[Youngling]

I don't know man, trees do strange things. Just because you have a straight lower trunk doesn't mean you HAVE to keep along that route but, it's a good suggestion. It's better to see a tree in 3D but here are some more ideas from what I can see:please take a good look before you cut to see if it's actually possible. You will see things we can't.

 

[Youngling]

I think as @Shibui mentioned this tree says 'make me a broom'. With the straight, tapered and already bifurcated first set of upright branches/trunks. Just needs a hard cut back.

 

[Peter/Chang’s/Nebari/]

What type of bonsai do you want to possess when all the time and labor have ceased?

Broom, informal upright or perhaps literati?

How tall is that tree? Looks to be 18” maybe 24”? Are you looking for a petite tree or a 36”+ colossus?