Hey guys! New to bonsai. Got this wild cherry about 6 months back at my local mall.

The owner told me its gonna flower in the spring. He also said it's 14 years old ( which i can't really believe looking at the trunk) anyway, the tree did not grow any flowers. Upon checking I found it's a wild cherry which still should flower but whatever.

The tree has been growing very nice tho. Lots of leaves and branches. However, being a begginer I don't know how to style this?

Can anybody give me some reference pictures? What can I make of her?

14year? More like 4.... I would not buy there anymore...
This is a very young tree, thats needs years of growth before doing anything else. As you say that trunc is way to thin to be believable as "tree".Thickness is length, so just let it grow.
A few other things: it needs to be outside, or it will die ( trees need to be outside) , and I would take away that moss , you can't see if the soil is wet or dry underneath, or how much water you give

Hi there.
Thanks for the reply.
I don't believe the tree needs to be outside or it will die as it sat around in the store for months, and it's been sitting in my window for about 6 months, so that would have been plenty of time to die but it didn't. It's doing absolutely fine. When I bought it it had half the leaves and branches. Since then it grew into this big bush. No leaves fallen off, nor any pests and diseases. It sat in my window thru the cold months and it didnt die.
So I would say that statement is false, but thank you for your opinion.

About the age: I agree the store guy lied to me ( at the time I didn't have much knowledge on bonsai ) but at least I haggled down the price from 90 to 30 so that's nice I guess lol.

So you think I should let it grow? Without any cutting of the branches? Shouldnt I at least wire it ?

I watch herons of bonsai and Nigel saunders on YouTube and they wire and style their 2-3 year old trees....

Thanks for the input again. Cheers.

Csicska wrote:

I don't believe the tree needs to be outside or it will die as it sat around in the store for months, and it's been sitting in my window for about 6 months, so that would have been plenty of time to die but it didn't. It's doing absolutely fine. When I bought it it had half the leaves and branches. Since then it grew into this big bush. No leaves fallen off, nor any pests and diseases. It sat in my window thru the cold months and it didnt die.
So I would say that statement is false, but thank you for your opinion.

90% of the questions in the help section are about dying trees that are inside... you could be the exception but we'll see in a year or so...Btw, there is a huge difference between the store and our homes, but as i said, we'll see. Of course we only see/hear from people with problems here, the ones that are doing fine don't show up here.

Concerning your question about letting it grow or wiring: that is totally up to you really. If you like the hight it is now, you wire a bit and prune a bit, but the consequence is that it wont fatten up, or you let it grow, and start pruning and wiring later

The trees outside experience a long warm season of growth (warm means 10C/20F or so above freezing) and then they experience a long cold spell when they drop leaves and stop growing. A lot of biology happens during the dormant season and has to happen. If the tree doesn't get its dormant spell, it keeps growing, but it is just like you and me when we don't get sleep. We can go 24 hours, sure. Then another 24 hours, but after two or three days without sleep we collapse and maybe even die.
So, yes, the tree may have sat in the store for several months and then inside for several months and may be alive. If it never gets a dormant spell it will die because it is exhausted and never got its rest.
Before you ask, no I don't know much about the dormant spell and what biology happens. I tried to find a book on the subject once and couldn't find anything that was not horribly academic and required a significant knowledge of chemistry, a black art.

Dont despair, Ivan. Most farmers have no biological degrees, but can still get good harvest. That is spelled experience and adaptation to the situation.

it's quite simple really: inside they die, period

Tropfrog wrote:

Dont despair, Ivan. Most farmers have no biological degrees, but can still get good harvest. That is spelled experience and adaptation to the situation.

No despair at all. I can't explain the biology or chemistry of why the tree needs the dormant period, but I know that it does, and I don't mind standing on the shoulders of the giants who figured out why. Actually, I think the Japanese discovered what happens to trees not given a dormant period long before biologists discovered why.