Rosemary bonsai , your opinion on which way to style it!

Hello everyone ! I think I need major help with this , that I basically created my account on this forum for this exact reason xD

So basically as you can see in the images I have a rosemary plant that has been ignored for a while , and i really think it has some potential to become an interesting looking bonsai event though it looks like a complete mess butttt I dont know from where to start there are too many branches coming out from the trunk base and i dont know what to do exactly and so i would like your guys's opinions.
(6 long branches from one trunk , 4 long branches from the other)

I was thinking of making it more of a windswept style since it already almost is but i dont have much experience with rosemary so i dont really know how the branches are going to grow etc. (Or even cascade) ?

Your opinion would be great !! the more detailed the better!

Thanks !!

whatever you decide, do not do too much at once... i learned the hard way when i first started in bonsai... i had grown rosemary before in a container, but rosemary was the first "bonsai" that i killed... i found out they dont take easily to some bonsai techniques...

avoid removing more than 1/3 of the roots at once...
same for foliage...

use a slightly bigger pot than you might think (at least at first)

use plenty of organics in the substrate...

clip & grow seems to work better than wire, but if wiring be careful with lignified branches...
they like to make this funny "snapping" noise when bent

thats all i got.

after learning what i said above, here is one that i have had for a couple seasons now...

needs a spring haircut, but it should be a nice shohin size bonsai one day



good start to a cool gnarly trunk...

Thanks for the tips beer city snakes xD !! To tell you the truth this tree was too on deaths bed , i traveled for a while and the person who took care of it well he actually didnt , but thankfully it bounced back and now i want to give it another life. Thats why you can see alot of dead branches xD

Damn your tree is pretty nice!! Glad the second time was the charm now !

Now that you have more experience do you know how i might help the tree grow from the lower branches instead of continuously growing at the top ? I assume maybe trimming the top helps , no ?

To get the bottom branches growing, you need to prune the top, frequently. BUT like Kevin said, Only take off at most 1/3 rd of the foliage. Cut off growing tips of the tall upright branches. Repeat every 6 to 8 weeks, but don't "pinch" continuously. Let new shoots grow 10 to 20 cm or more before pruning again. In summer in Italy, you should be able to prune every 4 to 6 weeks.

Make certain sun gets to the lower branches. Put the plant on a shelf up high in full sun. This will help. You might thin out the top, removing a fair number of branches, so that there is more foliage down low.

You might want to sort out all the branches at the base, you have a lot going on there. I would remove over time, not all at once. But if it were mine, I'd thin the whole thing out to only 5 to 9 branches for the entire tree. But that is my personal taste, and I would have to see it in person, Could not sort it out from photos.

^^^^^^^yaz - what leo said ! ^^^^^^^^

and thanks !!!
kevin

Try putting the pot onto a reflective surface - like a board covered in tin foil. This reflects the light up from the bottom and gives the lower branches some much needed light to encourage them to grow. Just make sure you keep it well watered. And watch that it does not burn if the weather gets too hot. I would do this in England almost all summer - but maybe not in a hotter climate.