What direction to take this English oak?

[Oakacer]

Hi all, i impulse purchased an english oak off eBay over winter, but I don’t really know what to do with it. So far, I potted on into a pond basket and have just focused on keeping it healthy and letting it grow.

given the trunk diameter, should I get it healthier then do another chop or keep growing with the hope of thickening it up?

Thanks!

 

[Shibui]

2 main ways to thicken trunks.
I'm in the chop and grow camp as that seems to get me much better trunk taper and bends. Grow to size and then one massive chop leaves us with a single large cut to heal and growing a new leader to match the stump left after the cut. All of that takes more years of growing and with some species budding can become hit and miss on older trunks.
With regular cut and grow the earlier cuts are usually already healed and the trunk has both taper and bends so I can go straight to branch development at the end of trunk thickening.

BTW, lots of bonsai technique can change depending on location and climate. Adding a location to your personal profile means it comes up with your name beside each post so others have a guide to better advice for you in your area.