Trident maple - what to do....

[LandG]

So I purchased this trident maple and at the time I was pretty happy with it but now I kinda Wana change the structure of it, to try get some back budding I defoliated all the large leaves off the tree so it looks a little light on in that department. The thing I need is, is another branch toward the rear of the tree as aside from the apex it's only really got one going back that way, so need some shoots to grow. Anyway have a look and see what you think regarding any of the tree



Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

[shibui]

That's some really ugly wiring mate.

New buds normally only grow when there is little growth above the area. Your tree has a quite extensive canopy from the top of the trunk. In fact probably too extensive. I predict that if you leave all those branches up there the trunk will thicken near the top and you'll end up with reverse taper.
Removing the excess branches and defoliating the rest of the canopy may stimulate some dormant buds lower on the trunk but location is often hit and miss so you may not get one in the spot you want.
Grafting is the only sure way to add a branch where you want one. Approach graft or Thread graft are relatively easy and reliable methods - do some searching on this site to find out more.

It looks like there are already plenty of branches on the trunk. It may be possible to adjust the directions of one or more to give more growth toward the back or consider a change of where you look at the front so that you have better branch distribution.

Learning bonsai on your own is a struggle. you could do with some practical, hands on advice - maybe there is a bonsai club close enough to join?

[Mojo Moyogi]

LandG,
You could do worse than find an app that allows you to post pictures that are the right way up.

Cheers,
Mojo