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Hi, I've a had a small interest in bonsai trees for some time now but finally decided to actually try it out for myself. The thing is I dont have much experience in plant-care and would love some general advice and answers for some of my questions.

First of all i live in Sweden so I planned to start out with a Juniperus communis since its quite resistant to cold and i like the look of it. I'm wondering if its possible to take a cutting or sapling from the wild and starting out from there or if you need to buy one thats "domesticated"(don't know the right term)?
Secondly I wonder what kind of soil and such I would need when starting with a sapling/cutting and the amount of watering that would be needed? And should I have it outside where it can drop below 0 degrees or keep it inside where its about 10-15 degrees (with the other plants we take inside during the winter)? And should I even attempt to start with this now during the wintertime or should I wait until spring?

Apart from those questions some general tips would be great aswell!
Thanks in advance

First things first, congratulations on not rushing into it. A lot of people waste money meaninglessly on over-priced houseplants when they get started.
If you want general care guidelines, there are many great articles on this very website which go into much more detail than would be possible in a forum post. Simply search for what you're worried about. You can also, fairly obviously, search on Google for more specific questions.

Junipers are hardy at least down to -10 Celsius (Someone correct me if I'm wrong) but if it gets too cold, don't bring them inside as they need a period of dormancy and the indoor climate is unsuitable for trees in general. If you're worried about temperature in winter, take them into an unheated garage or shed to protect them from frost.
Side note: If it snows before it gets too cold, your plants should be fine outside as the snow will work to insulate them.

It is possible to take cuttings from junipers - again, search the internet if you wish to know how - but I don't see why you would want to collect a sapling from the wild; it can be hard to get permission, it can be difficult to do and you only get a small sapling out of it. It the sapling has grown 'wild' in your garden, then you can leave it to grow and maybe do some shaping before it looses flexibility but there is no need to plant it in a pot.
There is no real difference between a bought sapling and a rooted cutting.

When just starting out, there is no need to pot, so no need for specialist soil. I believe Auk once likened using expensive soil on a sapling to framing a plan of a painting you were about to paint. I may not have gotten that analogy perfect.

A good tip of mine is to not buy on impulse. It may seem obvious but if you buy 5 poor-quality plants over the space of 2 years, you could have bought a good pre-bonsai for the same price (plus you wouldn't have too many plants).

Good luck, and get researching,
Ed

Alright, thanks for the advice.
I'll look into whats available at the local stores sapling-wise but might also try some cuttings aswell on the side. What size would you recommend when buying a regular sapling from the store (not looking to buy a pre-bonsai yet, dont really have that money spend at the moment)?
And when you say theres no need to pot do you mean just planting it in the ground?

Other than that its pretty clear at this point, found a bunch of good info when I did some more digging!
Thanks once again,
Emil

Some more pages that helped me understand this and that and gave me inspiration: