I'm a brand new bonsai-er--I started 4 days ago--and I'm concerned I have made a series of beginner mistakes. Four days ago, I finally received everything I needed to start making bonsai trees. I went out into the woods, dug up two little pine saplings that were calling to me, then potted them up in 6" training pots. This is where things start to get worrisome.
Possible mistake one: I took a pine in mid-summer
Possible mistake two: There weren't many roots to begin with, but I trimmed dangling roots that would not fit in the pot
Possible mistake three: I used purely my own bonsai soil (20% peat moss, 40% turface, 40% perlite) and did not add any soil from the root ball
Possible big mistake four: Naively, I already styled and pruned the saplings, not yet reading about how sensitive pines are nor that you should not prune until the next season

So there is a lot, and for four days, they seem to be doing fine. I am just wondering if there is a good chance that these mistakes will be fatal, or if they may survive. I have certainly learned many lessons, but being so eager, I couldn't help myself. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Seems the chance.they will survive is very small but time will tell. What I do not understand though is that you are only talking about the saplings. What happened with the yamadori?

Perhaps I misunderstood the meaning of Yamadori, all I meant was that the saplings were recovered from the wild, not from a nursery or anything.

Hm.. Wait and see. If they die, you will see in the next few weeks. Depending on the age, pines can take a lot.

For your next try, first research, then work. Bonsai is not a game for the impatient.