AusBonsai

A month ago I went up to a Bonsai Nursery in Mt Macedon and purchased a couple of nice young Japanese Maples.

This one:


And this one:


I thought being summer I would have to find a nice semi shading spot in the back yard where they would get morning sun but no afternoon sun. The perfect spot is right outside my bedroom in the courtyard. And it seems they are enjoying it.

This is today:


And:


I just need to figure out the plan and get some good movement. As you all know I’m a newbie. I believe I should be letting them grow and that will help to thicken up the trunks... Or should I be pinching the new buds when they appear to keep them at this height? I don’t know where these trees will take me but it’s a journey that I’m looking forward to going on.

There are many different ways to achieve a bonsai Japanese maple.
They can sprout new shoots from older, bare wood so it is possible to let them grow really big to get a thick trunk quickly then cut back to a good 'bonsai' shape trunk and then grow new branches. Probably allow 10-20 years to achieve a good mid - larger sized bonsai this way. Pros: relatively quick. Cons: larger scars will take a few years to heal over, JM sometimes die back when pruned really hard, Some risk that fast grown trunks will end up as ugly stump bonsai.
Keep pinching and pruning: this slows the growth rate so probably more suitable for small - medium sized bonsai. Allow shoots to grow 20-50 cm then cut back to first leaves. New shoots will sprout and grow, repeat. Allow 5-10 years for a smaller bonsai up to 20-30 for medium sized or larger. Pros: smaller scars will heal quickly so few or no scars, You have much better control over the growth so chances of ugly thick stumps is reduced. Cons: growth is slow so allow more years to achieve good bonsai.
There are so many other slight modifications to both these and various techniques you can add to either or both to give better roots, better branches, etc. Always many variables.

Of course you might be quite happy to just have a couple of 'sticks in pot' bonsai. That can be achieved with very little effort in just a year or 2. you already have the sticks, just need to add pots next spring.

Please note that JM bonsai is not easy. Keeping them alive and healthy is usually quite straightforward however pruning techniques and follow up needs to be good or better as JM tend to get thickened ends of branches an/or ugly thickened places on the trunks if too many shoots are allowed to develop close together. I recommend trident maples for beginners as they are far hardier, grow quicker and a lot more forgiving of less than perfect pruning and management.
Good luck with your new babies.
There's not much you can do in the way of design at this stage unless you are aiming at a specific style or shape. You could wire and bend the trunks while they are thin and pliable. Later they will be far too stiff to bend much. Always make bends in very young trunks more exaggerated than you plan because trees tend to thicken more on the insides of bends so trunks gradually 'straighten out' as they grow and thicken. Monitor wired JM carefully because the wire will make marks on the delicate bark in just a few months.

Thanks a lot for the tips shibui. 30 years is a long time - but at least I’ll have something to do in my old age. Bonsai is great at teaching us patience - maybe Horticulture should be a compulsory subject in our schools and the young kids can learn that not everything is achievable over night.

I got these trees knowing that they are many years away from being anything of any interest they are very skinny and very straight. I do need to learn to wire properly so maybe I will go down that path.

A journey is the right word! It will be a fair few years for these to grow on, not that that’s a bad thing, some of the trees i am most attatched to are ones started from seed or cuttings. I won’t add much because Shibui nailed it already.

Japanese Maple don’t exactly rush to be bonsai but that’s why I enjoy growing them, the time invested makes the rewards sweeter