This tree continues to amaze me. The first right hand branch has outstanding ramification considering how long it's been in training. It is bursting with buds all over. I have been pinching it back and I have removed the leaves that were way too big for the tree. Well here are the pics.
The first pic is the front and the last one is the back. In the front, I plan on making a small shari/hollow trunk where I removed that large branch.
In the third pic I need some help. I can't decide whether to remove the branch just above the first left hand branch or not. If I do, that area will be a little bare but I know it ruins the image. If I leave it, I will try to reduce the stub and make it into a back branch. Any thoughts?
The apex has some great buds on it and, at this rate, it should fill out very soon and improve the image.
There are two back branches, I'm not sure which one to keep just yet, in the last pic that just grew this year. I will leave them for now and decide on it next year.
I love the image it projects already. I see a very tall oak that remains after a storm killed the younger trees around it and took one of its branches with it.
Tom