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Hello All! Firstly, thanks to the moderators for having such a great website! Ive been reading on it for about 3 days now, and have learned a lot just by reading and watching the videos!

Ok, I have definitely been interested in bonsai for a long time (and killed a handful of trees, ill admit :blush: ), and would really like to get serious about it! I am planning to buy a tropical tree for inside, to practice actually taking care of, and keeping alive a tree, and to have some immediate form of satisfaction! Then, if I can learn enough and do well, grow trees next spring.

MY QUESTIONS: These two trees are already growing in my backyard! Can I take them for bonsai, or are they to small? Should I grow them in a bigger pot this year, so they can grow more? If so, can I use standard potting soil? Should I just start them in a bonsai pot now? I don't have the botanical knowledge or experience to answer these questions!







Thank you all for your time! Im looking forward to joining this unique and knowledgeable community!

PS: I know one is a maple, but any idea what the other one is? spade shaped leaf, if you can't see it well enough! Thanks again!

I would leave them in the ground for now, they will grow quicker than in a pot. I am not sure what the top one is but the maple should be a good one for bonsai. Best of luck!

Thanks for the feedback! Would it make a difference if I told you guys they are growing over the weed cloth under my rocks? Doesent seem like an ideal growing situation...but I don't know! Also, I am hoping the maple will be good, but its awfully skinny! I guess it will be unique, and good learning at the very least. Any other feedback for me guys? It's nice weather, so if there's stuff I need to do, it would be nice to do it soon. Thanks again!

is what I'm asking about called yamadori? also, it seems counter intuitive to let your bonsai grow big before you make it a bonsai......i still have a lot to learn! My concern is that they wont be able to grow where they are now...should i move them to a different spot in the yard/big pot? how big should they be before starting the bonsai process? please forgive me if this is outside the scope of this thread, or if the answers are already around somewhere (tried/still looking!) , I'm just excited i guess! any other thoughts guys? I could sure use the help!

It probably would be a good idea to relocate the tree to a area without weed cloth. The main point of letting it grow is to thicken the trunk up. There is a fair amount of info online about how thick the trunk should be and how to get it that thick. In the end I suppose it just depends on how patient you can be. Ive read it is common to leave trees in the ground for 25+ years to achieve the sufficient thickness. You can still shape and style it while in the ground so you arent just watching it grow. For the ground vs. pot ground is usually quicker for growing the trunk. Try to get an idea of how you want the tree to look down the road so you can start pushing it towards that goal now. Let us know how it goes!

Relocating them is a good idea if they will suffer where they are.
When you dig them up keep as much soil as you can with the trees.
Yamadori are bigger trees, those are just wild seedlings. I was confused about that too until leatherback explained the difference to me last year.

Hi we're glad you like the site, and welcome!

Yes, the maple is a trident maple too be more exact. The one above, I don't know, but I've seen them somewhere before, but you can use that as bonsai either!

Yes, as some already said: I would relocate them to a place without weed cloth. To place a tree in the full ground, it has a bigger space to grow and the roots can absorb more water and nutrients from the soil.
You can plant it in a big pot, but that won't give you the best results though.

Yes, this isn't a yamadori, yamadori is a japanese term meaning 'Tree from the mountains'. But not every tree you collect from a mountain is a yamadori, there are some 'criteria'. Yamadori are often very old, that are stunted by extreme climates, poor soil conditions, exposed to strong wind etc.

You can also find yamadori on the field, like a very old tree that is growing on a dune and is exposed to strong wind and animals that are eating the bark or branches off (making natural jins and shari's) and have a poor soil condition (100% sand is not the best soil mixture!).

I hope this will give you a little bit more information about yamadori, it is indeed a difficult term, but once you read and see more about bonsai, you will easily see and know what is a yamadori and what isn't!

Good luck!

I have a different idea, since you said they growing on top of a weed cloth you can use this to your advantage.. You see often people plant a tree in the garden on top of a tile so that the roots don't grow vertically down, but rather horizontally.. This will give you great nebari (surface roots). One thing to check first is if the plant has not somehow grown through the weed cloth, if it has not grown through, then all what I would do is remove the rocks around the plant and simply pour soil around it. You can then start fertilizing the plant.

Wow, thanks for all the great advice and the warm welcome! I will do some sleuthing later and see what ill try to do. Thanks again! I'll keep you posted!

Get these trees off the cloth. Pick a period when the weather is supposed to be cloudy and cool; Ideally rainy for a week or so.

Important to find out: Are the roots growing in all directions: In the end, you want the roots to be evenly spread around the trunk. If not, you could consider pulling a CD/DVD around the trunk, untill a few small roots are above, and thge majority of the roots are under the CD. Bury the tree fairly deep, so that the CD is well underneath the soil. As the roots grow out, they loose space and will form new roots radially above the CD> You can then later clip all material under the CD away.

Take the plant, and ideally wire it a little with wire, and give the trunk an interesting shape. Then just let het grow out. On the site is an article I wrote about growing the trunk.