My name is boi from The Netherlands and new here on the forum.
I have been in bonsai for a while but after a couple of rough years without trees back at it! Happy to read and listen in here on the forum and the videos! What a treasure of knowledge!
I have recently aquired a hinoki cypress and ita doing amazing im loving the tree and im pretty happy with the design. But i have 1 issue (i have many but this one i cant seem to get over haha)
Lowest left branche is keeping me up at night… to cut or not… to jin and tangle or not. Love to hear your feedback. The top and middle section im happy with… (needs time ofcourse)
I vote for needs to go. My reasoning, its a tall slender tree and if i imagine an ancient tall tree like that then i cant imagine it having such a large branch that low on the trunk.
Do you have any other pictures from different angles?
I’d like that lower left branch to stay, slightly upwards on its base, but keep less foliage/ growth. That would indicate a younger branch (or even side-trunk), that grew lately on tree’s life. On the contrast, all the primary (structural) branches should have a more exaggerated downward movement of their shoulder (base). Than would indicate age. Last comment for the top and middle section, is that these duplicate bar branches, may cause inverse tapering or have an unpleasing aesthetic over time. The more you keep them and you rely your design on them, the more “difficult” would be for them to be removed. Turning them into jin features adds to a more aged character.
But who am I to make suggestions? Just as an objective thought process. You should rely more to the advanced critique you’re expecting
Thanks all for the input… did a rough bend now… not finished yet but wanted to try with comments in mind… btw… no bar branches… its a jin on the right but looks like its attaches to upper right branche
No way would I remove that branch. At least not right now. Let time be your friend. You can always remove it later but getting back budding on hinoki is very difficult. Without seeing it in person, I would put more horizontal bends into the lower branch to create more interest and allow you to shape the secondaries more. It seems if you cut that off you will have too much space between the bottom and the first branch. If you raise the upper branches some it will create a lot of negative space but then you can slightly raise the lower on to fill in. It also looks almost symmetrical without the lower branch. Good luck!
Did some more work on bracnhe placement… lower left still a thorn… its to long to move upwards. With little foliage on the inside its gonna be tough but lets see ill keep it untill ryan has commented hehe
I’d try and make a secondary trunk from it.
Maybe bring it a bit forward and if it doesn’t work you can use it to fatten up the base more quickly and turn it into a Jin feature later on.
we are all very curious to hear what Ryan will say.