augustine wrote:

a bonsai is defined as a "plant in a pot."

No, no, no nonoonononooo!

augustine wrote:

The soil of bonsai planted on stones is normally covered with moss

Yes, but

to prevent washing away when water is applied.

no. The moss is there for decoration, to hide the wires and the walls, and

a bonsai is defined as a "plant in a pot."

no, and

bonsai need a granular open substrate with good drainage

this would fall apart easily when watering, regardless the moss, when used this way.

augustine wrote:

You're doing fine, a bonsai is defined as a "plant in a pot." Don't be discouraged, the main focus, IMO, is enjoyment.

No, that's the definition of a potted plant. The definition of bonsai is "an ornamental tree or shrub grown using the art of bonsai." which this most definitely is not.

I'm new to this "welcoming" forum and will not respond to the comments I've seen so far. I am a ~25 yr. practitioner who lives in a relatively arid climate and have never tried to create any sort of exposed root specimen. The only thing I will comment on is the pot. It looks to me that the opening is substantially smaller than the rest of the pot. This will be very difficult when it comes time to re-pot. It'll be hard to get the root ball out of that hole. I have anChinese elm in a pot with a small inner lip that has always been a pain and this year I used a new fertilizing regimen that produced more root growth than usual and as I was putting my trees in their bark mulch bed for winter I discovered that the elm had actually cracked the pot.

Sam wrote:

I'm new to this "welcoming" forum and will not respond to the comments I've seen so far. I am a ~25 yr. practitioner who lives in a relatively arid climate and have never tried to create any sort of exposed root specimen.

Welcome to the empire then!
Will you share some of your trees with us/ Always keen to see some bonsai!