I saw a video where a bonsai artist found a good looking honey suckle in an area around a quarry, and it inspired me to go looking for a tree myself. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I figured that I would know when I saw it. I came across this stream and followed it upstream out of curiosity as to where the water was coming from, and where the stream split from 2 sources, I found this fairly small tree with a gnarly looking root system that was created over time by the erosion of the soil. I believe this is called neagari, if I'm not mistaken. I have included a picture or 2. I dug it up carefully by going under it from the side of the stream, and removed all of the soil with a claw. It was a long walk, so I took only the tree without the native soil. A friend told me that you should always amend the native soil when transplanting. Did I go wrong here? I wanted to fit it in the smallest pot I could without having to cut any more of the root system. I searched, but I couldn't find the pot that I wanted, so I settled on mending 2 round plastic planters together to try to create an oval plastic planter... and it looked decent until I added the tree and soil, at which time the sides bulged out in a way that I didn't anticipate. Anyway, I bought this soil for potting and another for water saving, but I don't know if its the best soil for the plant. I transplanted it 3 weeks ago, but no new growth has started. I scraped the bark a tiny bit along the trunk to see if the cambium layer was still living, and it was green, so its still alive. (a trick I learned from reading The Secret Garden as a child.) It just bothers me that I have no other signs to tell me if I'm doing the right things. I have it in a very shady area, because I didn't want it to dry out, but should I have it in a partially sunny area? Does the cambium layer still do a small amount of photosynthesis that can boost the plant's leaf production if I give it more sun?
I found someone in my area that can make a custom pot for me, but I want to make sure that I get the soil right before I spring for a unique decorative planter. Any advice on soil? Should I give the plant more sun even though I cut off the leafy section? How long until I should see new growth? I was also thinking of cutting it along the red line in the edited photo... Should I do this now or wait until the tree has regained more strength? I'm extremely new to this, so any advice would be appreciated.
