The natural growth habit of a specimen and the final presentation of that
specimen are not necessarily in alignment--nor need they be.

Depends on what school you are from, and also the species under discussion. I
don't belong to the Kimura school. To me, if the tree has some sort of artistic
shape in nature, like a pine tree, I would like to capture the essence of it in
bonsai. For those trees which don't look like anything in particular in nature,
like Serissa or Grewia, then I would say style it any way you like and devil
take the hindmost.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)