LittleDingus
Omono
These trees were destined for the ground after a move planned in 2-3 years. Every house we've lived in I've planted cherry trees so was trying to get a head start 
I usually plant the standards but the local nursery had these and, after some research, thought I'd give them a try! They were not bought for bonsai and are not currently in anything remotely like a decent bonsai soil.
I currently have 2 prunus x kerrasis 'Romeo' and 2 prunus x kerrasis 'Juliet'. So cute, right? Gag!
However, as they've grown, I've become enamoured with the bark! I've decided to run with the cuteness and take one 'Romeo' and one 'Juliet' and attempt to make a proper bonsai couple out of them
I do have personal reasons other than the obvious trope. If it were just for the gimick, I'd leave them in the ground!
I know a little about cherry and the big leaves and lack of reduction, etc... I have a montmorency, a couple of sweet cherry, a yoshino and 4 of these guys all in basically the exact same conditions. The yoshino is destined for bonsai, the rest are destined for desert! The montmorency has 6" leaves, the yoshio 2". The kerrasis avarage about 3"...so closer to yoshino size. I have no experience what-so-ever on if they will reduce at all. But I figure if they reduce even a little bit, it will be acceptable for my enjoyment
So, here's where I'm at. These all will stay in grow bags until after our next move. I should have at least two full growing seasons before I'd be ready to pot the lucky couple and start development. It can be longer if they need it. I have no problem with gathering extra cherries in the mean time even if it slows bonsai development down
Where I'd like to be is trees somewhere in the 12" - 30" range. That's a big range. Where they end up doesn't matter much to me...the trees can dictate the overall size and style for the most part. They both do need to be comparable sizes. Not shohin one imperial another. I do intend to fruit them even as bonsai but I don't care how heavy the crop is. Probably something sparse, actually. I'd love dense flowering, but I can otherwise prune fruit to just enough to look like a fruit tree.
What I'm asking for is advice/suggestions from the collective on which two trees I should focus on and what I should be focusing on to get from here to in a bonsai pot for the first time. They will get pruned this winter and very likely a repot in early spring. If there are obvious branches that should be removed so healing can start, I may as well prune those now. If they just need to sit and thicken up, I can do that too. Is there anything I should be doing to fix nebari? Should I be potting into wider, but shallower bags to start training the roots? Any sort of pre-styling I should be working on? I have some ideas but I'd love to hear other's thoughts before I embarrass myself
I will only be picking one of each gender to treat as a pre-bonsai. The others I will prune as I normally would for fruit production. I'd prefer the pre-bonsai bear fruit in the mean time as well. It softens the wait But I am willing to sacrifice fruit production for a better start at what I'm hoping is eventual bonsai training.
I can only attach 10 files and I was going to attach a 'front', a 'back' and a full tree so I'll be breaking the pictures up over 2 posts.
First the ladies:
Juliet #1
Juliet #2
I usually plant the standards but the local nursery had these and, after some research, thought I'd give them a try! They were not bought for bonsai and are not currently in anything remotely like a decent bonsai soil.I currently have 2 prunus x kerrasis 'Romeo' and 2 prunus x kerrasis 'Juliet'. So cute, right? Gag!
However, as they've grown, I've become enamoured with the bark! I've decided to run with the cuteness and take one 'Romeo' and one 'Juliet' and attempt to make a proper bonsai couple out of them
I do have personal reasons other than the obvious trope. If it were just for the gimick, I'd leave them in the ground!I know a little about cherry and the big leaves and lack of reduction, etc... I have a montmorency, a couple of sweet cherry, a yoshino and 4 of these guys all in basically the exact same conditions. The yoshino is destined for bonsai, the rest are destined for desert! The montmorency has 6" leaves, the yoshio 2". The kerrasis avarage about 3"...so closer to yoshino size. I have no experience what-so-ever on if they will reduce at all. But I figure if they reduce even a little bit, it will be acceptable for my enjoyment
So, here's where I'm at. These all will stay in grow bags until after our next move. I should have at least two full growing seasons before I'd be ready to pot the lucky couple and start development. It can be longer if they need it. I have no problem with gathering extra cherries in the mean time even if it slows bonsai development down
Where I'd like to be is trees somewhere in the 12" - 30" range. That's a big range. Where they end up doesn't matter much to me...the trees can dictate the overall size and style for the most part. They both do need to be comparable sizes. Not shohin one imperial another. I do intend to fruit them even as bonsai but I don't care how heavy the crop is. Probably something sparse, actually. I'd love dense flowering, but I can otherwise prune fruit to just enough to look like a fruit tree.
What I'm asking for is advice/suggestions from the collective on which two trees I should focus on and what I should be focusing on to get from here to in a bonsai pot for the first time. They will get pruned this winter and very likely a repot in early spring. If there are obvious branches that should be removed so healing can start, I may as well prune those now. If they just need to sit and thicken up, I can do that too. Is there anything I should be doing to fix nebari? Should I be potting into wider, but shallower bags to start training the roots? Any sort of pre-styling I should be working on? I have some ideas but I'd love to hear other's thoughts before I embarrass myself
I will only be picking one of each gender to treat as a pre-bonsai. The others I will prune as I normally would for fruit production. I'd prefer the pre-bonsai bear fruit in the mean time as well. It softens the wait
But I am willing to sacrifice fruit production for a better start at what I'm hoping is eventual bonsai training.I can only attach 10 files and I was going to attach a 'front', a 'back' and a full tree so I'll be breaking the pictures up over 2 posts.
First the ladies:
Juliet #1
Juliet #2
I'm currently going through some of my threads to update progress and saw your post.
