Not to long ago.. I bought my first bonsai tree from a man selling bonsai trees on the side of the road. The one I bought is a 7 year old japanese juniper. Its a young tree, the man did not give me much information nor did he answer any questions I had.. he gave me 2 minie fertilizer bottles .. which I still have yet to use. I stupidly watered my bonsai tree without a watering can, and the top of the soil ran down out of the pot. i did not know bonsai trees needed a different kind of soil because I was ignorant. And I grabbed soil from the yard and put it over to cover the exposed roots :/ my tree isnt dead but I know it is suffering. I want to help my tree I just dont know where to start! Its september and repotting for junipers I heard aren’t safe to do untill a week before spring.. what do I do? How do I safley repot my plant with the correct soil and not risk killing it?! The branches are also growing really long and downwards, I feel like it needs wireing as well but my first concern is repotting. ( also a bud sprouted just at the base of my tree) what do i do?!! I’m so lost please help!

hi and welcome,
Your juniper looks healthy it even looks to have some new growth. i highly doubt this is 7 yrs old looks much younger. if anything soil looks extremely wet, only water when soil is dry to the touch. as far as re potting i would wait till early spring. your tree has years to go before it is considered a bonsai maybe even decades. let it grow as much as possible to get a fat trunk. you wont be doing any wiring till later (a couple yrs from now). take a look here for some care guides www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/juniper

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it it. I feel alot more reassured! The guy i bought it from told me it was 7 years old, i guess he wasn’t totally sure or knew what he was talking about, i found it hard to believe it was that small and had been 7 years old! Thanks for your advice!