My Mother bought my Husband a 'Shishigashira' Japanese Maple for his birthday and he is interested in turning it into a bonsai (she wouldn't tell me where she purchased it, only that it was from a place that sold trees especially designed for bonsai). It appears to be grafted, if that helps at all.

I am a little disappointed already with the way it looks, as it looks a bit... etiolated, for a lack of better words. We don't have a bonsai pot small enough for the small root system it has, so we stuck it in a 4 1/2 inch ceramic pot with some fast draining soil I had lying around (temporarily of course).

My questions to you are:

1. What does my Husband need to do/what can he do right now to "prep" this for future bonsai?

2. Can we cut the longest branch back, or is that too "hard" of a cut? I honestly would like to cut it back all the way to the other branch myself, but this is my Husband's tree, haha. I'm just asking the questions for him.

I've noticed that the smaller of the two branches, the "node" (for a lack of better words, I'm referring to the spot where the new leaves would be forming), appears to have been broken off and I don't see any other branches forming to replace the growth on that branch.

3. Do we need to cut it back to the next set of leaves to induce branching?

I've noticed only the two branches, I figure he might need more at the base to create a "canopy" look eventually.

I hope this post isn't too long, I just know Hubby had a really difficult time with his last Juniper bonsai, so my Mother thought she'd get him something easier. I just hope this one isn't too far "gone" to bonsai and turn it what he's longing for.

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Thanks,
Planto