first bonsai little blue alps juniper

[pullen]

Hey everyone

Im hoping you guys could help me out a little. My brother brought a juniper bonsai on Saturday along with a little chinese elm as a bday gift and as these are my first bonsai trees i was hoping that you could enlighten my with some advice on them as well as some suggestions on what way i should go with styling them. I have already repotted them as the soil they where in looked pretty depleted and with the juniper the pot was to small and outgrown it as well as the decorative pebbles where glued in place also was wired at some point im guessing a while ago because upon removing the wire i noticed it has cut into the tree. I realize that the trees are probably a few seasons away from being ready for styling especially the little elm but i would appreciate any advice and suggestions on care and styling (for future reference )

Cheers

[shibui]

Not really much to say Pullen.
You need to decide what shape you want these trees to end up then work toward making that shape. Both are very young but you are already aware they will take some time to grow into something impressive.
You probably also know that they will grow slower in small pots. Some people put young trees into large pots or in the garden so they will grow rapidly and get to be more impressive quicker. That route can have some negative consequences but is frequently followed. Growing trees in smaller pots does take longer but you do have far more control over the final outcome.
If you want smaller bonsai it will take less time to achieve. If you want to grow a larger, impressive bonsai they should be allowed to grow fast in a larger pot for a while.
The wire marks on the juniper will disappear as the tree grows thicker. If you allow it to grow quickly they will disappear sooner but as noted above there is some risk to that approach.
There's really very little you can do to these trees other than keep them alive for now.

I find that most beginners like to have a couple of 'bonsai' in pots, even if they are not really good. They are great to practice on. Learn to keep them alive, learn about pruning, watering and shaping. My advice is to also get some plants you can develop in larger pots. When they look better than your 'bonsai' they can be moved into display pots and supersede the original ones (which can then be put into larger pots and developed into better trees if you've managed to keep them alive that long ). Note this can lead to an obsession with having 'just one more' because it might turn out better than the others.

[pullen]

Cheers for the advice i will definitely plant these trees in larger pots on the wkend and leave them be for a while in saying that wat size pot would be recommended for them and while im out getting these pots ill hunt around for a more mature plant to play around with and hone my skills as well as research the hobby more to gain better understanding of it

Thanks again

[shibui]

wat size pot would be recommended for them

That's like asking how long is the piece of string.
I would put both of these into the garden if I wanted a larger tree but maybe into a 30 cm diam x 10cm deep pot if I wanted to grow a smaller bonsai reasonably quick. But I already have plenty of good larger bonsai so maybe I'd leave them in those containers and try to grow a really nice small bonsai over the next 10 years - it all depends what you want and there is definitely not one way to grow good bonsai.

[pullen]

No worries thanks for your advice plenty food for thought i guess ill just keep trawling the forum and read up on the different styles and see what i like and what will suit the trees best ill keep this post updated once ive made a decision

[kcpoole]

Check the Wiki for some ideas and let them grow free, or experiment with learning to water and trim them.
as Shibui says, in a small pot they will be slow to develop, but even so if you want you can learn heaps of basic techniques and ideas on them.

Ken