Hello everyone , I have recently made a post about one of my trees dying and have been told that it was probably a mallsai grrrr . I have also been studying alot and experimenting bonsai techniques on herbs since they grow quickly so I get an idea on how a plant reacts to being worked on . Having done that I feel ready to start mi firt proper bonsai so I found this Japanese maple ( little princess ) I have also read alot about it but im still afraid to do anything to it altho I know I should let it grow for a few years , can anyone give me some advice on what to do to prepare it to be a good bonsai , for example how to make sure that it will grow with short internodes and small leaves ?
Ps : does anyone have a rough idea on how old it is aswell
Thank you

Enaisio wrote:

Ps : does anyone have a rough idea on how old it is aswell
Thank you

I have two of those. One 'little princess' between the other plants and trees in my garden and growing rapidly.
I've not done anything with it, I've just let it grow since I had it.

The other one in a pot, growing quite well too. Of this one I've shortened the branches and it's putting out lots of new growth.

Can't tell you anything about what to do with your maple or how old it is though

Im sorry I thought I added images but I didnt and its not letting me any idea why ?

Enaisio wrote:

Im sorry I thought I added images but I didnt and its not letting me any idea why ?

Probably too big. You should resize them.

Here are the images

Here is another

So far I have pruned a few leaves that were to big or a bit unhealthy but I left the stems as I read on a website and I pruned back a few small branches with long internodes . I also left a so called "sapdrawer " witch is the long branch sticking out of the right of the plant in the second photo , I done this because the website said it would drain the excess energy so that the internodes would stay short , is that advisable on a tree so young ?

Enaisio wrote:

Here is another

Very young. 3 years maybe. Far too young and small to start anything bonsai related with.
It doesn't look like a 'little princess'.

Here are mine, to compare:

Enaisio wrote:

So far I have pruned a few leaves [...] is that advisable on a tree so young ?

Why do you prune first and then ask advice ?

Auk wrote:

Enaisio wrote:

So far I have pruned a few leaves [...] is that advisable on a tree so young ?

Why do you prune first and then ask advice ?

And the answer is: Just let is all grow, except for places were you have more then two branches. Eventually you will have to reduce big branches. But only once the beasic trunk is there. Still a few years away.