Nana semi-cascade progression

[WNC Bonsai]

I bought this nana back in 2016 from Mountain Meadows. It just kind of sat the first couple of years with the exception of being moved down to a plastic training pot. In 2018 I decided it was time to do something with it and so began the process of letting it grow into a semi-cascade. It had been trying to do that on its own for a while so I figured that was it’s karma so I went along with it and let the branch on the left extend and grow down. I did help it with some judicious wiring to get a nice downward curve. The pads on the cascading branch still need to fill in over the next year or so. Today I decided to jin the lower branch since it needed some deadwood plus it will give those pads on the cascading branch more light to encourage faster growth. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos from 2016 but these two should show the progress over the last 4 years. The next step will be to run a strip of shari from the base of the jinned branch down the front of the trunk to the base—maybe tomorrow.

This was on 2018



And here is one from today

 

[AshleyMammal]

Hey, please feel free to ignore me as it's just my opinion as a fairly inexperienced bonsai enthusiast, but I don't think this tree needs (or works with) the cascade. If you lop it off, you're left with a nice tree!

If you do decide to go with the cascade, I'd like to see more movement in the dropping branch. If it were mine and I desperately wanted it to be a cascade then I'd go more for a minimal literati style cascade by removing (over time) all of the branches and foliage above the pot rim, and just develop pads at the very tip of the cascade - but I know this won't be to everyone's taste!

Another potential option if you don't like the 'normal tree look' would be to chop just above the first branch and develop the tree from there.

You've had this tree for about as long as, or longer than, I've been 'doing' bonsai so the above are mere points to consider.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Yes, I’m still on the fence with this one myself. This year I have been just letting it grow some more before I take another critical look at its future. I did give the cascade branch more serpentine movement. I have also considered removing the right hand portion as it seems to make it look unbalanced. I need to shoot some photos with a white background and do some Photoshop manipulations for planning purposes.

 

[AshleyMammal]

I think I'd personally keep everything except the cascade branch as your tree is nearly 'there'. However, I took the liberty of doing some very crude and quick design ideas if you're looking at a drastic redesign: