AusBonsai

These are two Liquidambars I pulled out from behind the shed at my house (with permission from the parents of course). I would like suggestions on which direction to take them. The largest one has scarring near the top trunk which will need to be fixed later. I also don't know what species they are, so an ID would be great. I'll keep you guys posted on how they go according to what advice I get.
Regards, Coocarch

This is the second tree, looks alright .

TO GET IDENTIFICATION ONE WOULD NEED TO SEE THE LEAVES CLEARLY.

Hi Hackimoto... what are the dimensions of the trunk on the first set of pics? I suppose you could try some carving in the long run... bit hard to tell... but I would be trying to get some low branching/ budding happening. plenty of time to think about it until spring!

I actually don't know the dimensions of either, I will measure tomorrow. An assumption would be approx. 1 meter.
[quote][/quote]TO GET IDENTIFICATION ONE WOULD NEED TO SEE THE LEAVES CLEARLY.
Yeah I thought there were some in the second lot of pics, it has very few due to season.

I am going to shorten and carve the main trunk of the first tree in spring, I just have to get a dremel.

Interesting score, these will be a long term project
Leave them both for now until they start to grow and shoot back. Once they do then you can reduce them some more in Late spring, then would leave tem for a year to recover.
In the meantime you can apply wire to start placing the branching.

Ken

Basically you have about three main options of what species they are if indeed they are liquidambars

L. Styraciflua (The American Liquidambar) and its cultivars (grafted) All with very star shaped leaves with 5 points.
Gumbo, A dwarf grower
Naree A golden/green coloured leaf variety
Silver King variegated
All of these are available in Australia plus there are numerous others available in USA that may be here as well.

L. Formosana Smaller tree 3 lobed leaves (Looks like a large Trident Maple)

L. Orientalis 5 lobed leaves but somewhat sub-lobed and a bit more rounded in shape. Often erroneously sold with the Styrraciflua label.

So there are the 3 main options, count the points.

@Hackimoto Dang, you know your stuff! Thanks for the help!
@Ken Thanks for the tips, I knew it was going to be a long time before I could start calling them bonsai. I need to wait until spring for some small shoots to wire. I actually don't have enough wire for it, I'll have to buy some.
Thanks for the help guys, I'll keep you posted!