What to do with this trident maple in development?

[rdb00]

I took this trident off a buddy and I’m planning on letting the trunk grow out (doesn’t look the best right now, I think it was an air layer).

The delimma I have is this wild taper at the top. The top branching is almost as thick as the main trunk.

My goal is to thicken the main trunk. I feel like cutting/layering top off will slow progress… is it necessary to keep it on until my main trunk is desired thickness?

 

[Shibui]

It is really hard to give an opinion when I can only see the top branches. Maybe cutting much lower would be a better option than just playing with the top section. Maybe the lower trunk is already great, but if a buddy is 'passing it on' I guess it is not first class bonsai material?
I'd also need to know what your aims are for this trident - basic mallsai or high quality bonsai with taper and nebari?

A thick trunk is a worthy goal but there's a lot more to a bonsai than a thick trunk. Consider nebari, trunk taper, branch placement, trunk bends for a start. I grow a lot of tridents here and have found that sacrificing a little growth in order to grow a more attractive trunk is well worth the extra year or so - and I'm not really sure early chopping does cost years of development.
Free growth to achieve trunk thickness is usually followed by a massive chop. Most newer growers do not allow for the years after the chop while the new leader develops and the chop heals. then there's more years to develop the branches and ramification.
Early chop will usually give some bends to the developing trunk. It certainly gives trunk taper. Subsequent growth helps heal initial chops. A year or 2 after the above tree was chopped you'll have a trunk of similar thickness but with bends and taper and the final scar is much, much smaller and you can move on to branch development sooner than the free growth model.

Lets start building this trident from the roots up.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Guessing nothing in those photos will be part of the actual bonsai. Let’s see the trunk where it touches the ground.

 

[rdb00]

It is really hard to give an opinion when I can only see the top branches. Maybe cutting much lower would be a better option than just playing with the top section. Maybe the lower trunk is already great, but if a buddy is 'passing it on' I guess it is not first class bonsai material?
I'd also need to know what your aims are for this trident - basic mallsai or high quality bonsai with taper and nebari?

A thick trunk is a worthy goal but there's a lot more to a bonsai than a thick trunk. Consider nebari, trunk taper, branch placement, trunk bends for a start. I grow a lot of tridents here and have found that sacrificing a little growth in order to grow a more attractive trunk is well worth the extra year or so - and I'm not really sure early chopping does cost years of development.
Free growth to achieve trunk thickness is usually followed by a massive chop. Most newer growers do not allow for the years after the chop while the new leader develops and the chop heals. then there's more years to develop the branches and ramification.
Early chop will usually give some bends to the developing trunk. It certainly gives trunk taper. Subsequent growth helps heal initial chops. A year or 2 after the above tree was chopped you'll have a trunk of similar thickness but with bends and taper and the final scar is much, much smaller and you can move on to branch development sooner than the free growth model.

Lets start building this trident from the roots up.

This is my fault, I should have Been more specific on my plan for this tree.

1st I am looking for a little more trunk girth and as such, my initial plan was to place in ground this upcoming season to begin this. I plan to do quite a bit of root work as it is currently circling the nursery pot it is in. When I place in ground I planned on placing it on a tile or similar to see if this may help develop the roots or not.

I personally am a fan of formal upright style, which is my end goal for this tree many years from now.

My original question was in regards to whether chopping off the top half of that tree that currently has quite a lot of leaf surface area would be a terrible idea (design aside) from adding girth to the trunk.

The top half of the tree was left on, so far, to provide more surface area for light to be taken in etc. (please correct me if I am wrong here in this assumption)

I am going to post pictures of the trunk and roots as requested when I get home. Thanks so much

 

[Wulfskaar]

It sounds like you're on the right track. I've asked the same questions a few times. All that growth will help fatten the trunk faster. Then, when the trunk is as thick as you want, you would do the major chopping.

 

[rdb00]

Guessing nothing in those photos will be part of the actual bonsai. Let’s see the trunk where it touches the ground.

Yes, apologies. I am going to post more photos of current state of tree

 

[rdb00]

It sounds like you're on the right track. I've asked the same questions a few times. All that growth will help fatten the trunk faster. Then, when the trunk is as thick as you want, you would do the major chopping.

Thank you, I am going to post a couple more photos shortly. Certainly has a lot of work needed but I’m excited.

I love tridents

 

[darzuo]

Generally I'd say if you're trying to thicken, keep any growth that is not shading out growth branches that you plan on using. So if you're going to chop it down to a stub in the future, go ahead and keep everything.

 

[rdb00]

Guessing nothing in those photos will be part of the actual bonsai. Let’s see the trunk where it touches the ground.

Here are pics of the trunk in its current pot

 

[Adamski77]

Couple of obvious problems with this trunk is shape (simply straight) and taper (doesn't have any based on pictures)... there is also a problem with root structure but this can be addressed. Not to discourage you but do you want to invest your time in this instead of finding a better material.
The only option to progress with this particular tree is to chop it in spring quite low and get it to put some new shoots out of which you'll develop new leader so the tree will ultimately have some taper.

 

[rdb00]

Couple of obvious problems with this trunk is shape (simply straight) and taper (doesn't have any based on pictures)... there is also a problem with root structure but this can be addressed. Not to discourage you but do you want to invest your time in this instead of finding a better material.
The only option to progress with this particular tree is to chop it in spring quite low and get it to put some new shoots out of which you'll develop new leader so the tree will ultimately have some taper.

Yeah I hear what you are saying. I actually have some tridents that are in training stage that I paid $$$ for. This one was given to me and frankly I just thought it would be fun to develop something rather than just pay for another tree that was ready to be trained.

The roots are definitely a mess and the trunk is absolutely straight, you are correct.

I guess in my mind, I sort of just figured sticking this in my yard for some time to thicken it up after performing some root work would get me started off and then addressing the taper in a few years (would like a formal or informal upright)

I don’t mind if there is little movement, just thought it would be fun to develop something for once. Different process and different challenge!