You're not going to want to hear this
, but I'd reduce the larger trunk by more than half. Same for the smaller one.
The trunks, as they are now, even if you succeed in putting even a little movement into them with wire, will remain monotonous and lanky-looking. The trunks are pretty much the same diameter for 90 percent of their length. Visually, that makes them appear spindly and not very graceful and that trait will remain for their entire lives if not corrected now.
Inducing sucessive taper lower on both trunks with repeated chops will force some movement into them and will look more natural down the road.
This takes time, but the trees will be better for it. It should always be remembered that bonsai is not a spring, but a marathon. Instant fixes that work at the moment almost always wind up looking like instant fixes five years down the road. Developing convincing, quality trunks and limbs over time produces finer results that won't require re-working in three years...
I'm currently doing similar cut and grow out on at two Japanese maple forests. JMs are pretty resilient and fast-growing. The forests I chopped this summer have pushed new leaders that are now a half inch in diameter. I expect that kind of growth to accelerate this summer and plan additional reduction chops in the next two years.
I will begin chopping back branching to develop that in the next couple of years.
In all the project could take as long as five years, but the planting will be "acceptable" within three.
on both.
IMG_20180619_181422_DRO by Paul Pashley, on Flickr
