Hey everyone I'm new here but I've been interested in bonsai for a long time. My grandpa used to do bonsai but unfortunately I never learned from him before he passed away. Luckily though I was able to save some of his pots and I'm currently trying to start a bonsai tree of my own. So onto my question, I recently went to my parents house over the weekend and my mom was complaining about 3 small maple sprouts in one of her potted plants. I quickly suggested that I would take them from her and try to do bonsai out of them. So my question is how long do I have to wait before I should start fertilizing, pruning, and shaping? I've attached a picture of the 3 sprouts I transferred from her potted plant and another picture of what I would like my tree to look like in the end (also maybe considering doing a root on rock form in memory of my grandpa because those were his favorites). Everything I read says 3 years before pruning but the maples that grow in my yard routinely reach a foot or two in height after the first summer that they grow. I'm not trying to grow a full size tree!! is 3 years the actual amount of time?? can anyone give me some insight?

Right now there are three sprouts in a small pot with just simple miracle grow soil. I have a bigger pot and I'm planning on transferring the healthiest one to it. Should I just keep using miracle grow soil or should I use something else? Tha nks in advance!

~Blake

So... you want to make that bonsai out of your seedlings. Here are the steps to accomplish that:

- Plant the Silver Maple sprouts in the garden. Make sure they have enough room. Forget about them.
- Start studying bonsai. Get some material to train on. Join a club. Read books, view videos. Get a training
- Start learning Japanese
- Once you are confident that you have sufficient knowledge, apply for an apprenticeship at one of the famous bonsai nurseries in Japan
- If you manage that, the first years you will maybe allowed to water the trees.
- Get a Japanese maple with bonsai potential
- Keep studying. Eventually maybe you may prune some leaves
- Under guidance of the nursery, work on your maple
- After another couple of years, you maybe may start shaping some valuable bonsai
- Continue to shape your maple
- After, let's say, 15 years, you have a nice pre-bonsai. Continue to shape it.
- When it has reached its desired shape, plan your trip back home
- Sit under your, now big, silver maples and admire your bonsai.

Firstly I have to mention that I have absolutely no experience - also just starting out.

I have planted a bunch of seeds and hoping some of them do germinate.
I also have that picture in mind for my maple (american sweetgum) if I actually get some seedlings from my seeds

there is some nice videos on youtube that I have watched regarding growing bonsai from seeds. and from what i have seen most people let the seedlings grow for about 1 year before pruning for the 1st time. first prune basically just deciding at what height to cut them.
my plan is just to jump in and try some out.

you have 3 to play with and all 3 will grow very differently - cut 3 different lengths and see how it goes. depending on the new shoots sprouting you will see which one might end up closest to the pic.

Stella24 wrote:

.. from what i have seen most people let the seedlings grow for about 1 year before pruning for the 1st time...

Stella, this is not good information nor it's right. To make a bonsai you don't prune a seedling on its first year.

Stella24 wrote:

....cut 3 different lengths and see how it goes. depending on the new shoots sprouting you will see which one might end up closest to the pic.

This is also not so good advice...
After the maple trunk thickens (we are talking 5 to 10 years here), then you cut it down (usually to the first branch, if there is one).
OK, you can just "clip and grow" during some years, but it takes longer and you will have to know exactly what you are doing and why.
The good part is that growing from a seedling, there is plenty of time to learn bonsai techniques in the meantime.
And then, after that, you develop your ramification.

I don't understand everyone's recommendations on this forum for trunk chopping. There is little aesthetic appeal to a massive wound or an eventual massive scar even if the trunk is thick. Bonsai is supposed to be about gently transforming a tree over years or decades right? Maintaining the health of the tree is paramount right?

I'm fairly new to bonsai myself but I have read as many pages or articles as I can find, and the same with videos, over the past 16 months. I have a young silver maple too and you are right in that they are very fast growing, upwards of two feet of new growth a year. I got a 2.5 ft tall (~75 cm) from a nursery so the tree is probably in its third year of growth this summer. Knowing the tree isn't well developed I specifically waited until the tree had produced 3 pairs of leaves on two different shoots before trimming the developing terminal leaves (4th pair). Now, 2.5 weeks later, the tree has upwards of half a dozen dormant buds that are swelling or have broken into leaves. I don't plan on doing any additional pruning this season as I want my still young tree to grow freely and strengthen before winter. Those new buds and eventual branches will be the start of my trees form and ramification.

My recommendation, leave them be this year as they are brand new. Repot them into separate pots either next spring or the spring after. Don't do any pruning until next fall/early winter at the earliest. Think ahead about the form of the tree you want when pruning so you don't have to make any massive chops. Oh, and have fun.

Shermanator wrote:

I don't understand everyone's recommendations on this forum for trunk chopping. There is little aesthetic appeal to a massive wound or an eventual massive scar even if the trunk is thick. Bonsai is supposed to be about gently transforming a tree over years or decades right? Maintaining the health of the tree is paramount right?

I think there is a balance to be found between the number of years you can wait for your tree to develop, and the size of the eventual tree you want to grow. The more foliage you have on your tree, the faster the trunk develops. So, in order to develop a big trunk, you need lots of growth. This means: Either grow a little bit every year for 5 decades. Or grow lots for 5-10 years. The first will be a higher quality tree -if done right-. The latter will have marks on the trunk where they were trimmed, but those can be done in a way that for most people they are acceptable. I think it is up to each owner to decide.

I for one do both. I have trees with large chop marks that I am trying to close. And I have a bunch of seedlings in the ground that I trime every 2-3 years. And I have seedlings in pots that I am trying to develop in a pot.

For most people starting out it is best to get some results fast, as most do not want to wait 20 years years before they have a trunk to work with.

Most of the advice here is good. I see no need to learn Japanese, or Chinese (where the art originated).

I would add one thing. Go out in the woods and look at some trees. Then, go out in the fall. Then in the winter, then in the spring. Repeat. This will take two years, and in that time you will get to know what trees look like. Pick out a couple of trees and take pictures of them, and see how they grow. In the winter, look at deciduous trees. The real tree is the trunk and branches. The leaves are just fluff-very pretty fluff in the fall, but still not the real tree.

You can call this study, but that sounds like work. I would just say I am walking in the woods.