I've lived in this house my whole life, and my grandmother planted a willow tree 5 years before i was born. It grew into a beautiful large willow, Taller than our house which is rather tall. Anyway, it had a tall trunk, which zig zagged and i would always climb it and sit in it as a kid, but in the end it got so tall, that it snapped in the wind when we had really strong wind.

Anyway we are moving out soon, and ill have lost that tree forever. I'm new to bonsai, but i wanted to start a few, starting with the willow tree, having known that willow cuttings are easily propagated, it was a logical place to start, also taking into account the sentimental value of the tree to me..

I'm wondering where i can trim these cuttings, because they are too long. but i don't want any stupid blunt cuts. I want a thick trunk but quite a small tree, I seen an opportunity to cut thick branches close to the trunk where they come from so that they flare out by the roots and make the tree look older. . I've left them quite long in length, i don't know if they're even going to root, cos they're quite woody.

i know nothing about pruning or where to cut any kind of branch to get growth back from the same place and without stupid looking blunt cuts, or if this is even possible, so the more detail, the better, because i literally know nothing. I've tried to do my reading on the internet, but i'm going to order a book tonight. I know patience is key but i want the tree to look good and have cool structures, and i want to give the tree a good foundation to look good sooner if possible, and i also want to not make any mistakes which will make the tree look bad in future. I can take any sized cuttings, just please tell me what i'm looking for, or if its even worth growing one from a small cutting.

what do i cut? when do i cut it? what do i want?

Thanks so much for any wisdom you may depart.

Can you give us pictures, and have you already taken the cuttings?

of course. except the smaller ones i have taken are in my nans side of the house and i'd have to wake her up. but i can take pics of the big ones. bellow is 2 pictures of each 3 cuttings. so theres 6 pictures, one of the whole cutting and one of the bottom

This link seems like it might be pretty relevant.

deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructio...g-hardwood-cuttings/

Great link, thank you!

I would take big branches instead of these twigs. If you ahev the whole tree there. Willow roots in almost any size. So a 10cm diameter branch would not be silly. That would give you a bit more bulk.
As a bonsai, it will probably never really get there. Willows tend to drop branches etc. But as a starter to have a memento you could do this.
The only way to get a thick trunk is by letting it grow and cut back. Cuts on branches like you are showing will have grown over after a season if the tree is allowed to grow. Big cuts may take a lot longer, especially as willow does not heal cut wounds as easily as some other species do.

I do not know where to cut the branches correctly? And plus a 10cm diameter branch would be very long! What would I do?

jacobplopo wrote: I do not know where to cut the branches correctly? And plus a 10cm diameter branch would be very long! What would I do?

From what I've read, being long is far from a bad thing. It provides the branch extra resources to make its roots.

But won't my bonsai be very long?

jacobplopo wrote: But won't my bonsai be very long?

Your tree may be long. That doesn't mean your future bonsai will be long.
Bonsai is a long term process. Don't expect instant results.