So I found myself in Walmart's garden center, preparing to be thoroughly disinterested, I found a few Japanes maples sitting on a pallet. I have never seen them in nurseries, let alone a Walmart. I figured that was a sign, so Ipicked the one that had the most interesting roots, even though they are tiny now, and probably won't show up in the photos. The one I picked up is a little shy of three feet, and it looks like it was chopped before at about 16 inches.

I want this tree to be a larger specimen, maybe a little shy of 20 inches with a in 5 years, and while I know a bit about creating ramification and wiring, I find my knowledge lacking in the earliest stages. I know what I want to for the tree long term but I need help on what steps to take, and more importantly, when and in what order to take them.

I want it to have an interesting trunk, and right now it is s vertical line, so I need to introduce some character now while it is young and flexible, but I'm not sure how to accomplish that. Its in a nursery pot now, and I'm not sure if I should pot it out now so that I can anchor wires to introduce the trunk features, of it I should let it settle into it's new home before I start. What is the best method and timingto introduce some trunk bends?

I want it to grow a thick trunk after I introduce the features that I want it to have. Should I leave the current foliage and not trim it shorter immediately? I know if I cut it shorter, the small branches at the bottom will grow out and it will start creating others to flesh out the tree, which will contribute to it starting to look more like what I want it to eventually be. If I leave it at the current height, the bottom branches will probably shrivel up as the tree continues to pour energy into the existing canopy. The existing canopy is thickening the trunk, though.

Should I re-pot, cut the height and work out some bends first and all at once, and grow a more appropriate canopy with sacrificial limbs to thicken the trunk from there?

Should I find a good place in the yard and let it go nuts for a year or two to thicken the trunk, then trunk chop it to the height I want, and work it back into a bonsai pot?

My initial thought is that the initial trunk bend has to be done now, and once that has set, all else can follow.

What are steps1, 2 and 3 on this project, and what is the timing?