This is an Aussie native LilliPilli (Acmena Smithii Var: 'Hot Flush') I purchased from a normal garden nursery (and I got
Photo 1. I particularly liked the leaves on it and it had an 'interesting' lower trunk.
Photo 2. When I cut it back to see the basic shape I realized the trunk wasn't as good as I first thought .
Photo 3. But no matter, I decided to keep going with it. In that photo you can see two branches on the left growing sharply upwards - better view of those branches in photo 4.
Photos 3 and 4. Were taken after I'd cut it back and allowed it to send out new shoots. Photo 3 was the view I chose as the front of the tree. I've found out from working with it that this variety of LilliPilli is very prolific at sending out new shoots, which is great for Bonsai. Over the last year, I've been continually cutting it back using the new shoots. Last week it was as you see it in photo 5. When I pruned it back it looked better turned round the other way, so this is now the front of the tree - photo 6. Those two sharply upward growing branches are still there, but considerably shorter now. I'll leave the front one and cut the other one off.
Photo 7. Is what I see as the future development of the tree. The lower branch on the left (red arrow) needs a bit more length on it but the foliage pad is developing nicely. The lower branch on the right (purple arrow) needs a small amount more growth and as new shoots grow, I'll spread them out horizontally to start developing the foliage pad on the branch. The blue arrow is where those two 'V' branches are and as I said, the back on will be cut off. I'm not sure yet whether I'll keep the branch with the yellow arrow or cut it off. If I cut it off then I'll wire down the branch above it to fill in the gap (green arrow). The branch on the other side (orange arrow) will be allowed to grow considerably to get it to thicken up, then it'll be cut back to the shape of the tree. The branch above it (white arrow) will then be cut off because it is too thick compared to the ones around it, and the thinner ones will be wired in position to replace it.
The overall shape I'm aiming for is depicted by the triangle. I'm going to either put this in a styrene box or in the ground to grow it on a bit quicker and hopefully thicken up the trunk a lot more. If it does thicken up like I'm hoping I could then possibly take off some of the branches along the trunk as the tree will look unbalanced with a lot of branches close together. That's one of the interesting things I find about Bonsai: As the tree grows and develops, your view of it, and its potential can change dramatically - and what a persons view was for the tree originally may be a lot different than what they end up with further down the track.
If you have any questions please visit us on the Bonsai board.