Advice on 7-foot Thuja

[Bpswieringa]

I'm brand new to bonsai. I have recently purchased some very inexpensive nursery material to learn on. I have a thuja I'd like to accomplish the following over the next few growing seasons:
A.) Keep it alive
B.) Shorten the main trunk/ strengthen the low branches with low foliage
C.) Reduce the 5-gallon sized root ball/ check for nebari/ get into free draining medium in a grow box.

Any advice about timing and the order of things to accomplish would be great. The last picture is not mine but it is an idea I like

 

[pandacular]

Welcome! I was in my first spring in bonsai just last year, so I know the mix of excitement, information overload, and confusion well.

I think your list of goals are really great, but one thing I (and many more experienced hobbyists) have noticed is that you can get much better results if you start with repotting, basically just as you mention in C. This seems to be especially true for dwarf Alberta spruce like the one shown in your picture.

It’s probably right around ideal season to repot in much of North America. Where are you located? It would help if you added your location and USDA hardiness zone in your profile settings, it will then appear on all your posts.

Oh and if you do repot those trees, learn how to tie down AND chopstick. These are very successful to getting the roots healthy and right.

 

[rockm]

I'm brand new to bonsai. I have recently purchased some very inexpensive nursery material to learn on. I have a thuja I'd like to accomplish the following over the next few growing seasons:
A.) Keep it alive
B.) Shorten the main trunk/ strengthen the low branches with low foliage
C.) Reduce the 5-gallon sized root ball/ check for nebari/ get into free draining medium in a grow box.

Any advice about timing and the order of things to accomplish would be great. The last picture is not mine but it is an idea I like

The plan you have is solid, but I would not substantially reduce the trunk and repot at the same time. I'd top it at about a foot above where you want the final apex and shorten branching by half (don't prune past any green foliage, as that can be a problem.) I'd wait a year and see how it responds this spring summer and fall. See where things are next spring for repotting.

FWIW, arborvitae used to be a favorite among eastern bonsaiists, particularly collected arborvitae from upstate New York and Canada. Rainer Goebel and John Biel had some excellent examples. I think the bonsai you have pictured is a needle juniper (an possibly a tanuki graft). Here's a "northern white cedar" at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum that was collected in Canada back in the 1980's (the pic info doesn't give the original owner, but it's likely one of Goebel's trees)

 

[Bpswieringa]

Thank you for the advice.