Hey guys!

I'm brand new to bonsai and to this forum. I'm looking forward to learning from you all!

Most videos I find online about getting started with bonsai talk about purchasing a tree from a local nursery, and pruning and shaping it to my heart's desire. I'm wondering about a different approach.

A few months ago, amidst my early, excited, and impressionable phase of bonsai learning, I bought a Chinese Juniper online and it was shipped to me. It arrived healthy, but much smaller than I had hoped for it to be. I plan on taking all the steps necessary to help it grow nice and strong, but to be honest, I'm a little impatient and want to make it a bonsai sooner, rather than in a year or two when it would be large enough to be like the videos I've watched.

Should I start pruning and shaping it while it's still young? Will this stunt it's growth? Right now it's about the size of a baseball, and I'd prefer it to be around the size of a cantaloupe. If I let it grow from this point, should I refrain from pruning it until it's my preferred size? Or will pruning and shaping it now help it be more beautiful by the time it's larger?

The other obvious option is to just go and purchase a tree that's already the size I want, and make a bonsai nice and quick from there. I only want to do this option if I can't make a bonsai out of my little tree, and if doing so won't make him stop growing.

I hope my questions make sense. To more plainly repeat myself, can I start pruning my tree now and let it grow to its proper size? Or would I have to wait until it's the size I want to actually start making it into a bonsai?

Thank you all!

this hobby takes a lot of patients, and to be honest if you dont have the patients you will not do well in this hobby or get the outcome you are looking for. years are involved in this hobby and in any tree you work on. almost never will you purchase a tree, prune it and boom its complete, unless you buy a tree that has been trained and pruned for years (and that could be decades). if you want a bigger bonsai you need to let it grow. if its the size of a baseball and you want a cantaloupe you are looking at years of growing, now the rate it grows is has to do with whether its planted in the ground or pot, if in a pot? pot size plays a roll. feeding at correct times of the year, root pruning when necessary, foliage pruning when necessary.
simple answer is can you start a bonsai from a sprout? YES, but will involve decades of growing (depending on desired size)
can you buy a tree, prune it then its a bonsai? NO its not that simple.

crent89 wrote: this hobby takes a lot of patients

Considering the circumstances, I can fully understand why you made that error....

Thank you! That really makes sense. How big can I expect the juniper to be in a decade's time?

As Crent explained, impatience is something that is not an option in this hobby. Not only does impatience not create good trees, it actually kills them.

brandfluke wrote: If I let it grow from this point, should I refrain from pruning it until it's my preferred size?

Without going into detail and generalizing a bit: no. You should refrain from pruning it until it is larger than your preferred size.

This is contrary to another reply. If I want a larger bonsai, should I just go buy a larger tree?

brandfluke wrote: This is contrary to another reply. If I want a larger bonsai, should I just go buy a larger tree?

Lol

If you want a large bonsai, you can of course start with a small plant and let it grow bigger. In a decade of unrestricted growth in the gruond you can get a chinese juniper probably near a metre tall.In a pot, this will not be half the size.

If you want a big bonsai, most people would start with a big tree. Only idiots like me start with seeds, seedlings, cuttings. But I have a bit of land where I can plant things out and forget about them for most of the year.

If you are just srtaing out, best option is to get a somewhat bigger tree. They are stronger, more tolerant of mistakes and are easier to get to look like you have something. Meanwhile, keep the small plant, and work that too. I am actually working on some small plants (none of those junipers) that I intent to allow an annual increase of a few cm to in that way grow out. But it also pushes my patience. And I have loads of bigger trees already.

Bonsai are mostly grown by growing a bigger tree and cutting down to the bonsai within and then refining. Especially with junipers there are not enough years in a lifetime to grow everything from scratch and have a desire for mature trees.

brandfluke wrote: This is contrary to another reply. If I want a larger bonsai, should I just go buy a larger tree?

You buy a tree. You prune it. The tree is now smaller.

If you have a certain preferred size, the tree you will prune should be bigger than that preferred size.