Hi, John: Hope all is well with you these days...For the rest of this year I think the best thing to do would be to let it continue to grow out along with, of course, careful watering and fertilization. You could poke around a bit at the base of the trunk to look for potential nebari and continue to study the tree regarding design possibilities.

After leaf drop this fall you can get a better idea of how you wish to proceed with styling. I would wait to do that until early spring of 2006 just as the buds are beginning to swell...keep it mind that you will most likely sacrifice any flower buds at this time...however, considering you will be doing initial styling and potting up, this probably will be a good thing.

Hope this helps....I enjoy the species very much as bonsai -I wish you continued good luck with your tree.

Regards,
Tom

John,

Tom is right. We're past repotting for apples now. If you tried now, you'd have to completely defoliate the tree and reduce the top growth too. You'd risk losing the tree.

Best to leave it be until next spring. Give it some shelter from the worst of the winter--don't let it stay too sheltered. Apples will break bud easily too early and you will have "indoor/outdoor" issues.

Apples can also take fairly agressive root and top reduction. I took 85 percent of the roots off of the mature one I had--I had gotten it from Chase Rosade. I sold it about four or five years ago, as I grew frustrated with trying to prune correctly for blossoms. Some apples simply refuse to bloom, no matter what you do. I hear, that's especially true for apples collected in old orchards or from "the wild."