bonsaivienna
Seedling
I'm very new to bonsai, and would appreciate the guidance and wisdom of the community on where to take this Japanese Holly, my second-ever bonsai project. For background, this was a $15 purchase at the local nursery earlier this year (around April).
I root pruned, potted, and did some initial pruning and styling at that time. As you can see, I have turned the tree a bit on its side, exposing some of the more interesting nebari and creating movement in the trunk and main branches to the right. The Holly has done quite well since then, showing some good new growth in the spring and continuing into the summer.
I would like a broader, fuller canopy--not full wind-swept per se, but continuing the movement of the branches up and to the right. The foliage is growing quite vigorously, but it's doing so in clumped bunches. You can see there are some open spots between the main branches that need to be filled in with foliage. (I'd also like to create some Shari on the trunk to give it a better shape and also to cover some of the cut wounds that are there right now.)
My questions are about how to proceed from here. How do I get better ramification of the smaller branches, and more even/uniform distribution of leaves? Should I prune back some of the shoots and branches and thin it out now, so I will get more "structured" growth next year? Or at this point do I just let it grow, grow, grow and worry about styling and ramification further down the road?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
I root pruned, potted, and did some initial pruning and styling at that time. As you can see, I have turned the tree a bit on its side, exposing some of the more interesting nebari and creating movement in the trunk and main branches to the right. The Holly has done quite well since then, showing some good new growth in the spring and continuing into the summer.
I would like a broader, fuller canopy--not full wind-swept per se, but continuing the movement of the branches up and to the right. The foliage is growing quite vigorously, but it's doing so in clumped bunches. You can see there are some open spots between the main branches that need to be filled in with foliage. (I'd also like to create some Shari on the trunk to give it a better shape and also to cover some of the cut wounds that are there right now.)
My questions are about how to proceed from here. How do I get better ramification of the smaller branches, and more even/uniform distribution of leaves? Should I prune back some of the shoots and branches and thin it out now, so I will get more "structured" growth next year? Or at this point do I just let it grow, grow, grow and worry about styling and ramification further down the road?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
