Friend of mine just gifted me a young American Hornbeam. It has a thin trunk with lots of vigorous growth and leaves seem adequately healthy. I'm thinking of just styling it to be an informal upright bonsai since they naturally grow upright anyways —but I still want it to look interesting.

I can't seem to find much on the caring of American Hornbeam bonsai. It's in a smaller plastic pot about 4" inches in width. I'm wanting to move it to a bigger pot without disturbing the roots because I want to thicken the trunk. Would that be a good idea?

Any other caring tips for American Hornbeam are also welcomed

Even better than a larger pot would be putting it in full ground for a few years to ticken up.

I read that could be an option. Unfortunately, I don't have the land to do that as I am renting right now and all I have is a small porch that works great for potted plants but I can't dig around for places.