Having difficulty finding the trunk line and overall styling of this Ming aralia. Second pic shows the potential apexes, and maybe plant it deeper to the black line to hide inverse taper. I know Ming aralia is inherently hard to style into a traditional bonsai shape, but I am aiming for a shohin sumo style. Any advice and ideas are appreciated.
by DIOisApproaching
3 Comments
Whatever your style, I think you are going to need heavier gauge wire if you want to move those branches.
All your branches are too long/tall, for the width of your trunk. If you want to style the tree for the size it is now then you need to pune back hard to start getting some ramification closer in to the trunk. Alternatively, if you want a larger tree, then you need to let it grow for a few years without pruning until the trunk is thicker.
I think a squat sumo ish look would be ok. Give it a hard cut back and grow some new branches.
Imo Ming aralia are a beginner trap, as big trunks are easily found, but they respond poorly to bonsai techniques.
I feel obligated to mention this anytime someone posts ming aralia. In my experience, theyre impossible to style. I had one wired for an entire year, and the day after I took the wire off- it bounced back to how it looked pre-wire.