New to bonsai and gifted some unknown Conifers

[austindrake]

Hello everyone, I joined a few months ago after youtube very oddly recommended some bonsai videos during COVID19 downtime. I quickly fell down the rabbit hole and started talking about it to some friends, and it turns out that one of their mum's had been into bonsai but had too many trees. She gifted me a few trees to help me get started in my new hobby, including a japanese maple forest and some 1 year old seedling, some cotoneasters, a fig of some kind, two small junipers and these two conifers. She couldnt identify these two trees from memory, all she could say is that they are both 20-25 years old.
The first tree. The first image was taken during July, and the close up taken today.


The second tree. Same as the first, initially taken in July and again today after it turned green in the spring.


Any clues would be helpful! (Also, I apologise for my poor photography, I dont yet have a very nice photography setup!)

[shibui]

Welcome to bonsai. By now you have probably come to understand that this particular rabbit hole goes quite deep. Once you are in it is quite hard to get back. You will no doubt also discover that it has many twists and turns including alternative routes and false leads. Ausbonsai is here to help you navigate the maze.

Conifers can be quite difficult to identify accurately.
The first of your trees appears to be Chamaecyparis obtusa AKA Hinoki cypress but Thuja orientalis has similar flat foliage pattern and is often called bookleaf pine. There are also lots of garden cultivars and varieties of both that make it even harder to ID accurately.

I can't see any distinctive features of the second plant but most conifers are treated pretty much the same.

Generally don't cut the roots too hard (though it is rare for any beginner to have enough guts to cut roots really hard) Most conifers will not bud on older, bare wood so when pruning always leave some green on the branch if you want it to stay alive. The will respond to any bonsai techniques so much better if the trees are strong and healthy so plenty of fertilizer and sunlight for a year before undertaking pruning or styling. It is often suggested that we should not do too much at one sitting with conifers so either repot and root prune OR prune and style rather than attempting both in a single season.

[austindrake]

Cheers! I'm looking forward to the journey over the years to come.

Thanks for the ID assistance, and for the conifer tips. I've since given them a bit of a tidy-up prune but nothing major, ill save that for next time.
Shame the second tree isnt more obvious! Perhaps as the years go buy my own experience will give me further clues.