I've been trying to get into bonsai for a bit now, and I found myself a little shagbark hickory growing in a garden. It's still an itty bitty baby, and I'll have to wait 3 years to train it. I was wondering if there is any general advice you guys could give me. I read somewhere that Shagbark Hickory trees are bad for bonsai because they have compound leaves or something, which I thought was funny because I also remember hearing that any tree could be used for bonsai. So, this Hickory tree. Can someone explain to me why it wouldn't be recommended for bonsai, and in english please

I just googled this tree. The reason people say it can't be done is because of the size of the leaves.It looks like they have 5 leaves per leaf stalk. If the size of the leaves can't be reduced it would have to be a gigantic tree in order for it to look good.
I'm not telling you not to do it. I've had a few trees that People were less than enthusiastic about. haha I'm just saying that these people might have experience that you don't...and maybe they have tried to bonsai this tree too.

i agree with lance if you want to try it go for it. alot of the tree restictions come from the traditional japanese bonsai.there are so many rules it'll make your head spin.my phylosophy is if its free and it's growing try it

Yep I say go for it. Free trees are the best for learning and experamenting. You never know unless you try. You might wind up doing something that makes it a star.