Need early development timing advice

[ironliver316]

Been doing this for a couple years now, but I'm having a hard time finding advice on when to do certain things on trees in early development. I figured this is a long game, so I've bought tons of trees the past 3 years (mostly at a discount ) with the intent to throw them in colanders or wood boxes (or put em in the ground when I stop renting and actually buy a house), and grow them out. The hope being that every year, I'd have a couple that thickened to my liking and could start refining. But little of what I read or see in videos is about this early stage.

So my main question is about stuff like major pruning and trunk chopping. When to do it? Any difference in timing between conifers and deciduous? Or any popular species that stand out and need to be done at a special time?

Also, I had a question about transitioning from development to refinement. I know you can only do one major thing per year. So should you do the root work and get it into a training or full on bonsai pot first, or should you do your initial styling first and worry about cutting down the roots the following year? My thought being to do the initial styling first because the full foliage would be too much for the roots to handle after cutting half of them off. Am I wrong on that?

 

[leatherback]

Your question is basically "how does one grow a bonsai from a seedling". One can spend a lifetime learning this and it is not really something that a post on a forum can answer.

Some start can be found here, perhaps; did you see this? [blatant self-promotion]

I know you can only do one major thing per year.

Hm.. This is debatable. Certainly when pulling a tree from the ground, rootwork and severe pruning come together.

Note: There is a stage between growing a trunk and refining. Building a tree & branch structures. Refining is the latest stage.

 

[pandacular]

So should you do the root work and get it into a training or full on bonsai pot first, or should you do your initial styling first and worry about cutting down the roots the following year? My thought being to do the initial styling first because the full foliage would be too much for the roots to handle after cutting half of them off. Am I wrong on that?

Generally I see pros do repots prior to big prunes (but every generally comes with a "it depends"). The reasoning I often hear is that it's better to drive root growth with strong foliage than vice versa.

Regarding when to prune, chop, etc, as Jelle points out there's lots of opinions and it's not that straightforward. This has been a big confusion for me as a beginner. The best thing to do is work on your trees and see how they respond.

Here's a thread i posted on a similar topic with a similar theme, in which I got a lot of advice from the folks here (namely: be patient!)

Phasing work on my Shimpaku Juniper

I have a shinpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis) that I purchased as a pre-bonsai (though I'm thinking penjing!) from Robert Cho at Asia Pacific Gardening. This tree has a really interesting trained trunk line, and tons of foliage, some of which has been trained as well. Here are some pictures of...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Shibui]

Hm.. This is debatable. Certainly when pulling a tree from the ground, rootwork and severe pruning come together.

Agree fully with this for most species. I do yearly root prune and trunk chop on developing maples, crab apples, Chinese elms, prunus, etc and only have great results. I've done the same with azaleas and some other broad leaf evergreen species.
This one insult rule probably originated from conifers which need different care but has been misapplied to all bonsai recently.

Trunk chops can be done at any time of year with most species. Pruning in nature - browsing by creatures, storms, etc - happen all year round and trees have evolved to cope with those assaults so they can recover from trunk chop any time. It may take a bit longer to see a result when chopping at certain times of year but if a tree is going to survive a chop it doesn't matter when.
When trunk chopping I am more concerned about whether the species buds on bare wood or only grows from leaf axil buds than timing.

Also, I had a question about transitioning from development to refinement. I know you can only do one major thing per year. So should you do the root work and get it into a training or full on bonsai pot first, or should you do your initial styling first and worry about cutting down the roots the following year? My thought being to do the initial styling first because the full foliage would be too much for the roots to handle after cutting half of them off. Am I wrong on that?

Again, depends on each individual tree. If the top is really big compared to the root mass you need to keep there could be problems. When digging pines and junipers from the grow beds I root prune hard and do selective branch pruning at the same time. No problems reducing canopy when also reducing roots. Leaving some intact growing branch tips definitely increases recovery and survival of conifers.
If the top is not overly big compared to root reduction the top can be left alone to drive root recovery but I cannot quantify how big is too big. I just go by feel and experience - which I know is no use to others starting out.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Been doing this for a couple years now, but I'm having a hard time finding advice on when to do certain things on trees in early development. I figured this is a long game, so I've bought tons of trees the past 3 years (mostly at a discount ) with the intent to throw them in colanders or wood boxes (or put em in the ground when I stop renting and actually buy a house), and grow them out. The hope being that every year, I'd have a couple that thickened to my liking and could start refining. But little of what I read or see in videos is about this early stage.

So my main question is about stuff like major pruning and trunk chopping. When to do it? Any difference in timing between conifers and deciduous? Or any popular species that stand out and need to be done at a special time?

Also, I had a question about transitioning from development to refinement. I know you can only do one major thing per year. So should you do the root work and get it into a training or full on bonsai pot first, or should you do your initial styling first and worry about cutting down the roots the following year? My thought being to do the initial styling first because the full foliage would be too much for the roots to handle after cutting half of them off. Am I wrong on that?

Lite seasonal pruning
Winter: Bends, chops, wires
Spring: Slip pot, repot, solid fertilizer
Fall: solid fertilizer