IVY - Your thoughts please

[Watto]

I have an old variegated ivy (Hedera helix I think?) that I dug from a garden about 12 years ago. It was originally used as a demonstration tree at a Goulburn Bonsai Society exhibition about 7 years ago and the artist was Skippy. He did a great job on the initial styling and the demo was a big hit with the general public.
Since then I have continued to develop the tree and it has had a few changes over the years. It 2011 it was blown off its stand in some very strong winds and as such got a new pot and another change. My issue is I'm still not certain where I should be going with this and I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.
The tree currently stands about 900mm high.

[Watto]

And here are the after work photos.

[bodhidharma]

G'day Watto, definitely "golden heart" ivy and i really like the second picture for your front. Nice trunk, it must be old as these are slow growing.

[Watto]

Thanks for your thoughts. Really had never thought about the side you like until today when I was spinning it round and round looking for inspiration. I might re-pot into a round pot so then I can change my mind as often as I like?

[alpineart]

Hi Watto , I'm with Bodhi on pic 2 most definitely . Mate that is one mean trunk that's for sure , any idea of its age .

Cheers Alpine

[GavinG]

For Ivy that's massive. I'm with the others - pic 2 as a front. Keep posting as it matures.

Gavin

[Watto]

I'm not sure how old it is, but Skip thought about 70, but I think he was exaggerating. It was dug about 12 years ago and it was at a house that was built in the 1970's. The story is that it was relocated from a country property, but I can't verify that story. So probably somewhere between 12 and 70, but most likely around 35 to 40.
Having been out of the ground for some time, it does not appear to have increased in trunk width in that time so the story of slow growth is probably correct.
I will see if I can repot it in spring into a round pot.
Thanks for the advice.

[Watto]

No chop, no hack, no branch removal, no re-styling. Whats wrong with the creative spirit?
While I agree with the suggestion of a new front (or preferred viewing side) it sort of "breasts out" at you which I understood was a no no in the bonsai world. A re-pot to stand it more upright may assist, but I'm only 90% convinced. More thinking to be done?

[Watto]

About a week ago I had the pleasure of Mr Masashi Hirao visit my garden (he actually came for breakfast but I had to take the opportunity to take him for a walk around my trees) and he commented that he liked this bonsai but suggested that I re-pot it with a new front. It was the front suggested by the wise men of this forum last year and today I put Masa's suggestion into practice.
Masa said I need to work on bringing the apex towards the front over the next two years and that is what I will do. Also try to bring the left hand branch down progressivesly over the coming years which will be a bit more difficult as the branching is quite stiff,but I will give it a go.
Hope you like the new look.

[Hackimoto]

Ivy.jpg

This looks like the best front to me.

[winnetwo]

My neighbour's ivy is climbing over my fence. It is quite a ferocious grower and the size of the leave would please even the most well endowed Adam. Googling to see if it would be worth using some of the runners as Bonsai I came across your article. Looks like I will definitely be giving it a go. What a wonderful job you have done with that plant. I am looking forward to seeing yearly (or more) updates on it.

W2

[Watto]

Its been a while since I posted a progression of this, so here it is. Currently the front is the one suggested by my Japanese visitor, but it has had a few changes over the years. It lived in a round pot for three years and now this year has a new rectangular one, in a darker colour.

[Watto]

Its been a few years since this ones has been up-dated so just in case you are interested........
This is a photo of the back taken in 2017. I put this in the Canberra show but unfortunately the photographer took a photo of the back, of well not to worry.

[Watto]

In June 2018 I took a few photos as the tree was in full fruit. Just after the photo shoot I did remove all the fruit so the seeds didn't get distributed into the bush.

[Watto]

And a few close up photos of the fruit and other things.