I bought this Lilac a couple of years ago listed as a bonsai starter but it was already in a bonsai pot. It has flowered well and seems to be doing ok but I'm thinking given the size of the trunk and the pot etc it's going to be a LONG time developing properly.

So I wondered - should I maybe repot it instead upwards into a 7 inch ordinary pot perhaps to give it some extra depth?
OR should I instead do some hard pruning on it as it stands to push the growth downwards?
Any suggestions welcome

I'd plant it in the yard for a few years. Let it grow until the trunk size is the thickness you wish. If you don't have a yard, then go for the larger pot. Let it grow. Selectively prune to develop some movement in the trunk. The straight portion could be pruned back to one of the lower branches and allowed to grow thick. They'll catch up to each other in size if allowed to freely grow. Prune that lower branch to another shoot that comes out and let it grow some more. In a few years, you'll have a thicker trunk with some movement in it.

Then you can start working on branches. Good luck

You're a GEM! That's exactly the sort of answer I was hoping for and certainly can manage to achieve, I do only have a town yard so it'll have to be a container but that's doable although ironic - because of my severe hand arthritis, I've been spending the past 3 years downsizing all my previous shrubs to bonsai or bonsai size, so it's going backwards to a degree for me, BUT I've learnt enough to understand that while they might survive as this one is it'll never look right until given a chance to develop better, Just wanted to be sure. It's the price I pay for being stupid at the outset of this process & buying plants on Ebay listed as "Bonsai" which weren't - they were just shoved into a bonsai pot to get more money Lesson learnt. I've another couple which will probably be going upwards rather than down for the same reason., And the REAL kicker in this particular plants story is that I stupidly went & let a larger well developed container lilac go for free to the guy who cleared my yard & did some work for me, because it was too unmanageable for me - just before I got the idea of looking into bonsai for the rest!

So thanks tons for that info - if I ever remember I might return in a couple of years & let you update me further on it

Hey Belfast. How does that lilac look now? I just started bonsai, and I have a lilac I was going to air root one of the larger branches, and want to see your progress!

Hiya
Kind of you to ask but sadly mine died the following winter for no real reason I could determine. I always bubble wrap all my pots and take as many measures to prevent plants freezing etc so no ideas as to its demise causes. Plus I've not found any more for sale to have another go and am at a point where I'll have to cut back on my work with them. On a slightly different note I also just lost the beautiful Azalea shown in my profile pic - maybe time I gave up with those too Hope you have better luck with yours!

I would say you might have to be less protective of your plants. They NEED a break and winter.

Oh I know but every year it's the same - I panic endlessly about the more expensive ones in particular - ever stressing about frost etc although my yards very sheltered & they prob wouldn't have to deal with it much anyway, But in truth I lose more around early Autumn than over winter so may have to figure out if it's me or the weather etc, I'm a relative bonsai newbie (can you tell LOL?) but at least so far I've managed to get 90% of my stock safely through winter so hoping for another good one. Thanks Leatherback

Belfast: I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is USDA Zone 4a or b. Where are you? I have a juniper and 4 spruces and a few siberian elms outside, sheltered, but outside. I hope they survive. My lilac tree (the one I will be taking an air root off of) is Zone 4 hardy, so I think it should do well, again if it is out of the wind. I suggest watching Bonsai Mirai's video on wintering. I learned that just setting pots on the earth keep the bottoms several degrees warmer than if they were on a shelf outside.

Have a bit of a read on how to avoid winter damage: www.growingbonsai.net/winter-preparation-in-bonsai/

Flounder wrote:

Belfast: I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is USDA Zone 4a or b. Where are you?

I'm in Belfast UK but no idea what hardiness zone that is as such, We've more rain in this part than frost or snow any winter, tending at best to get between 1 & 5 days of snow except in exceptional years like 2010 when we had 5 or 6 wks of it. Admittedly I didn't lose any plants throughout that time, but as I say, I bubblewrap every pot whether bonsai or not.

Appreciate that article Leatherback thanks.