New Japanese Black Pine

Hey, I got this new JBP  from Wigerts' Nursery in Ft. Myer's FL.  Any comments or styling suggestions? (The stump is hollow).

If I had a new pine I would let it acclimate to its new home and not work it til next season.

Augustine,

Absolutely on the year's rest. I actually like to wait until I have been through an entire growing season in which the tree pushes lots of healthy candles. That might take one year, maybe more.

I would think about losing a branch and growing my tree from there.

A thought to consider. The trunk can or should set the pattern for the tree. Both dead trunk segments are very straight, no curves. I would consider styling the whole tree that way. Each segment of trunk, every branch coming off the trunk coul be at right angles, 90 degrees. A zig zag design. If you go this way the big branch that gracefully arches needs to be wired to straighten it out.

For this zig zag neither branch is ideal, consider grafting what will be your trunk onto the live part of the trunk if it doesn't back bud in a better spot.

Or, carve graceful curves into the stumps, either way unify the design.

I came across this John Naka drawing in "Bonsai Techniques II.  Do any of you think I can get close to there from here?

depending on how old you are

Damn, I wish there was a Wigerts here in the Dallas area.

May I ask how much you paid for this?

the lowest branch I would bring down just below horizontal, the lover of the bar branch would also be brought down below horizontal and curved towards the front of the tree then towards the trunk the remaining branch would be taken up near to vertical and moved towards the trees front. nothing too extreme no need to prune heavily at the moment after another year start looking to chase buds back so branches can be shortened and the top filled out