cleaner626 wrote: ...what five years ???i cant wait that long. I can see my fully bonsai'ed tree with in 2 years...about wraping and then burying, waiting for two year blah blah, you dont have to do that. Using ficus binjamina just tye the tree in the sutable rock, put some clay soil and put the tree on a flat shallow dish and after a month on the shade you can now outdor the tree.

Agreed that ficus can grow very rapidly. However that is mainly for those lucky enough to be in the tropics. If you are in a temperature climate and do root-over-rock on local trees, count on over a year before the roots take hold. Growing a trunk and canopy may then take another 3-6 years. 5 year from rooted sapling to convincing bonsai is very quick. Naturally, it all depends on what you are aiming for. Trees like the ones I posted before on this thread will have been in training for over 10 years.

Found me a rock that looks a bit red-ish and has a white vein in it, weighs about a kilo. Stuck a young Eastern hemlock onto it, wrapped it in, put the roots in soil, stuffed some soil between the rock and the wrap to keep the roots from drying out, then chucked fine sand on top of the soil in the pot, to keep the wrap from slipping off. Keeping fingers crossed for the result of that. I'll let it sit for a year or two, depending on my patience.