Kanzan (Prunus Serrulata)

[CarpenterDiaz7]

Hi y’all, visited the local nursery today and to my surprise they’re had two Flowering Cherry trees. They were tagged with Kanzan Prunus Serrulata. Wanted some opinions was to what y’all would do with these babies? Conflicted, would it be okay to repot them in the winter in a bonsái pot or grow them out more? Also any ideas for pruning are welcome!

thanks in advance!

 

[Njyamadori]

So I’m also a beginner but I do have a lot of seedlings like that. Right now I’m wiring up seedlings like that with motion and up potting them in big nursery containers. Those are a little too thick for my liking but you can do less tighter bends . Here is an example of a wisteria before repotting it.

 

[CarpenterDiaz7]

Should I wait to thicken the trunk a bit before reporting them into bonsai next season?

 

[Ranitomeya]

So I also recently acquired a P. Serrulata, and I'm using This as a general reference, which reccomends repots in late winter. While I'm unfamiliar with the exact specifics on thickening trunks, I am experimenting with different layers on the 2 trunks of my own tree. 1 has a tourniquet, and the others growing out a sacrifice branch. My tree is already in a bonsai pot, but ultimately I don't think that effects things too much other than making the process slower. @Shibui gave me some great advice, maybe he can pop in here and weigh in for you.

 

[Shibui]

Should I wait to thicken the trunk a bit before reporting them into bonsai next season?

Not sure how much thickening you're expecting in one year, especially when growing in such small pots. It depends what you expect your bonsai to look like but I'd expect to grow trees like this for 3-5 years before they would be thick enough for me to pot into bonsai pots.
There would be no problem potting these on into larger pots soon (minimal root reduction) to get a bit more thickening but even then it's likely to eb a few years before these are more than just thin sticks.
I would also consider reducing or removing the long, straight sections of trunk but if you are happy with the shapes as they are you can keep them as is.

 

[coltranem]

Here is a Prunus Hally Joviette I bought from Evergreen garden works in the fall of 2020. It came in a 1 gallon nursery pot. Last spring, March 2021 I repotted into 3 gallon. And finally a picture of it this spring. I am still growing this out before I chop to that first branch.