I’ve had the Trident Maple in a root pouch for 3 years now.
I’ve been listening to a few bonsai podcasts and have noticed a different attitude at the higher end. They seem much less attached to authenticity of the bonsai and are quite willing to move from pot to ground to pot in order to build a better tree. (I think authenticity is the right word… I’m roughly driving at the idea that a bonsai has earned every valuable feature while a bonsai, while ignoring what that says about yamadori.) Anyway, I think that’s the needed action here.