It's too difficult to be specific about what branches to prune from 1 2D picture, but here are some things you should focus on:

You'll need to strategically prune those very heavy branches high on the tree well back toward the trunk so you can build some taper into the branching. You don't want club at the top of the tree, you want fine, airy branching.

*restrain the top of the tree by pruning it hard to force the tree to put more energy into developing the lower branches. The tree will WANT to put energy into the upper 1/3 of the tree and the branch ends.

* pick your front, then get to work on pruning and manipulating some existing branches low on the tree into flatter or slightly drooping lower branches. Remember that your lower branches need to be the thickest for your tree to look 'believable'.

It's a VERY nice piece of material to start with. If you paid less than $150, you stole it.

You can see that my tree (from a cutting I started) is heavy in the top and needs to be cut back, & some taper and lower branch work needed:

Al

Here's what it looks like after the initial restyling work. It's actually come a long way over the summer after this initial reworking - they grow pretty fast.

Al

dperugini74,
What a great looking plant! I would love a plant like that!
I hope you share it's progress. Good luck with it!

Al~
That tree is beautiful! Hard to believe it was just 1 summer.
Makes me want to go find a fat plant and raid my tackle box. lol..

After Christmas, I will start looking for a plant. :-)
JJ

Great looking Port. Afra!!

I have a few of these and i am also playing around with the thicker branches on top . Mine are much smaller than yours and i will say that i think it is beautiful and has lots of potential!!

Please keep us posted as to what you decide to trim and please post pics as you go. May i ask how long you have had this beauty? Do you know how old it is?

Looks like it will be lots of fun to work on!!

I think you already have a beautiful tree already, but once you work on the upper limbss, it will be very interesting!! I love it!!

Hi AL!!

Love the look of your tree after one season. They really do grow quite fast and i find myself always trimming these trees from the new growth where i want them to just rest. The top of mine always wants to take off, so i have to keep it at bay!! It is fun to work with, so i do enjoy the tree because more growth means healthy tree! ;-)

Take care and thanks for the great pictures!!

Laura