Guidance with this Ash and Ginkgo Biloba

[blauerds]

Hi! I was gifted this two beautiful trees and, since I’m still a beginner, I wanted some guidance as to what to do with them. The first one is an ash tree and the second one a ginkgo biloba.

The ash tree is disproportionately long for a bonsai, I was wondering if it can survive a chopping. Also what’s the best time to do it? Currently we are one month into spring in here.

Meanwhile with the ginkgo biloba I don’t know what to do at all.

Any guidance or advice on what to do with these two trees would be appreciated! Thank you for your time, this sub has been really helpful since I entered the world of bonsai!

 

[Kanorin]

Hi! I was gifted this two beautiful trees and, since I’m still a beginner, I wanted some guidance as to what to do with them. The first one is an ash tree and the second one a ginkgo biloba.
View attachment 573536View attachment 573537
The ash tree is disproportionately long for a bonsai, I was wondering if it can survive a chopping. Also what’s the best time to do it? Currently we are one month into spring in here.

Meanwhile with the ginkgo biloba I don’t know what to do at all.

Any guidance or advice on what to do with these two trees would be appreciated! Thank you for your time, this sub has been really helpful since I entered the world of bonsai!

Welcome to the site!

For both of these trees - they look young enough where you could put some wire on the trunk and add in some subtle curves. Other than that, I wouldn't do anything to them this year since they are still seedlings and have a ways to go for thickening up their trunks. Just fertilize, keep them watered, and get them healthy so they grow strong.

Eventually both of these trees will survive a trunk chop - but my advice is to get your trunk thickness to about 70% of your final desired thickness before you chop. This may take a few years.

 

[blauerds]

Welcome to the site!

For both of these trees - they look young enough where you could put some wire on the trunk and add in some subtle curves. Other than that, I wouldn't do anything to them this year since they are still seedlings and have a ways to go for thickening up their trunks. Just fertilize, keep them watered, and get them healthy so they grow strong.

Eventually both of these trees will survive a trunk chop - but my advice is to get your trunk thickness to about 70% of your final desired thickness before you chop. This may take a few years.

Thank you for answering so quickly! I really appreciate the advice!
Should I leave them in their nursery pot they currently have or re-pot? If it's of any help where I live we currently are one month into spring.

 

[Cadillactaste]

My ginkgo was ground grown for 6 years by Scott Lee. Along with a trunk chop along the way.

But... ground growing thickened my trunk. It was initially a cutting.That is a 12 inch Erin pot.

 

[Kanorin]

Thank you for answering so quickly! I really appreciate the advice!
Should I leave them in their nursery pot they currently have or re-pot? If it's of any help where I live we currently are one month into spring.

No, it's too late to repot - and I don't think they necessarily need it this year anyway. Next year you can repot them in spring. Optimal timing is about 1-3 weeks before the leaves begin emerging from their buds (depends on your climate)

 

[blauerds]

No, it's too late to repot - and I don't think they necessarily need it this year anyway. Next year you can repot them in spring. Optimal timing is about 1-3 weeks before the leaves begin emerging from their buds (depends on your climate)

And can I fertilize right now?

 

[Kanorin]

And can I fertilize right now?

Definitely. For trees that you want to thicken the trunk up, you can fertilize pretty much any time the tree is actively growing (aside from during extreme heat or a ~2 week hiatus right after a repot).

 

[Shibui]

The ash tree is disproportionately long for a bonsai, I was wondering if it can survive a chopping. Also what’s the best time to do it? Currently we are one month into spring in here.

Meanwhile with the ginkgo biloba I don’t know what to do at all.

Both these will have no problem with a trunk chop whenever you need to. I would probably grow them on without a chop to thicken the trunks first. Plenty of time to chop when there's something worth chopping.
Definitely fertilise all through Spring and Summer. Any type of fertiliser. How often depends what fertiliser you have.
I don't usually bother wiring deciduous for bonsai. Trunk chops will give both taper and bends in the trunks.

We deduce you are somewhere in Southern hemisphere but a general location can help us give much more specific advice about what and when.

 

[blauerds]

Both these will have no problem with a trunk chop whenever you need to. I would probably grow them on without a chop to thicken the trunks first. Plenty of time to chop when there's something worth chopping.
Definitely fertilise all through Spring and Summer. Any type of fertiliser. How often depends what fertiliser you have.
I don't usually bother wiring deciduous for bonsai. Trunk chops will give both taper and bends in the trunks.

We deduce you are somewhere in Southern hemisphere but a general location can help us give much more specific advice about what and when.

Thank you for your response, really valuable advices!! As to my location I live in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

[Betula1]

Are you able to grow them on in the ground for a few seasons? that would help thicken them up much more effectively than keeping in pots, otherwise Im afraid you will still be looking at twigs growing in pots in 5 years time, even with generous fertiliser applications.! As its spring time where you are they would be fine being planted straight into the ground now providing you water them in thoroughly.

 

[blauerds]

Are you able to grow them on in the ground for a few seasons? that would help thicken them up much more effectively than keeping in pots, otherwise Im afraid you will still be looking at twigs growing in pots in 5 years time, even with generous fertiliser applications.! As its spring time where you are they would be fine being planted straight into the ground now providing you water them in thoroughly.

Sadly I can't grow them in the ground, it's not an option to me. Is there a way to simulate that environment? I'm aware that just potting them in a big pot won't reproduce the same results, and it may actually slow the growth more.

 

[blauerds]

Are you able to grow them on in the ground for a few seasons? that would help thicken them up much more effectively than keeping in pots, otherwise Im afraid you will still be looking at twigs growing in pots in 5 years time, even with generous fertiliser applications.! As its spring time where you are they would be fine being planted straight into the ground now providing you water them in thoroughly.

Do you reckon a grow box is a good alternative? If so, what size is recommended?

 

[Shibui]

A grow box or large pot is the next best thing to ground growing. Larger containers maintain even moisture and temps and provide room for roots, all of which allow growth. Best not to go too big too soon (pot size) so you could up pot a few sizes at a time, allowing roots to fill the pots before going up again.
Hard to tell what size the current pots are as there's no scale in the pics apart from leaves.
Ash is quicker and hardier so could probably go straight into a grow box if you wish.
Ginkgo is much slower so don't go more than double sized pot each time.
Start of Spring now so they will probably respond to slip potting into larger pots now but I would do a full root trim at the appropriate time (early Spring next year) to sort out the roots. No point growing a bigger tree with twisted and tangled roots. Best to sort that out before growing the trunks big.

There's no standard grow box size. It depends on the species and how big/quick you want the trunk to grow.

 

[blauerds]

A grow box or large pot is the next best thing to ground growing. Larger containers maintain even moisture and temps and provide room for roots, all of which allow growth. Best not to go too big too soon (pot size) so you could up pot a few sizes at a time, allowing roots to fill the pots before going up again.
Hard to tell what size the current pots are as there's no scale in the pics apart from leaves.
Ash is quicker and hardier so could probably go straight into a grow box if you wish.
Ginkgo is much slower so don't go more than double sized pot each time.
Start of Spring now so they will probably respond to slip potting into larger pots now but I would do a full root trim at the appropriate time (early Spring next year) to sort out the roots. No point growing a bigger tree with twisted and tangled roots. Best to sort that out before growing the trunks big.

There's no standard grow box size. It depends on the species and how big/quick you want the trunk to grow.

Hi, thanks for your response! As to the size of the current pots both are 11cm deep (the rootball is 9cm since the first 2cm are free of soil) and have a diameter of 11cm too.

 

[Shibui]

Depth is not really relevant to bonsai. 11 cm diameter is what we should be looking at. 15 - 20 cm container will be OK to slip pot into for this growing season.
Please make sure you tease out some of the outer roots when slip potting.

 

[blauerds]

Depth is not really relevant to bonsai. 11 cm diameter is what we should be looking at. 15 - 20 cm container will be OK to slip pot into for this growing season.
Please make sure you tease out some of the outer roots when slip potting.

Last question, sorry to bother so much. Should I put both of them into a grow box or just the ash?

 

[Shibui]

Should I put both of them into a grow box or just the ash?

Depends what you want. Both should respond to the extra space but gingko is very slow to grow and develop so you could still be looking at a 20 year project. You may prefer to stick it straight into a bonsai pot and have a thin trunk ginkgo bonsai. It will still look pretty much the same for the next 20-30 years but at least you'll have a tree in a bonsai pot.
At least the ash will grow quicker so you could have a reasonable quality tree with better trunk in 5-10 years with that one.