Source
r/Bonsai•
Arkandy

First Bonsai, Amur Maple?

Today our local electric company was giving away trees, and as the Amur Maple was one of the available choices I thought it may be a good chance to try and start a bonsai.

The Tree

Closeup of the root structure

Now, I'm wondering if this is a suitable candidate for a bonsai. I'm guessing the sapling is already a few years old, and it is a bit larger than I would prefer. For now I was planning to put it into a 2 gallon pot, but after that I'm fairly clueless. Before going any further I wanted to consult those with experience (and of course the always useful sidebar links) to see if this sapling makes sense to begin with or if it would make more sense to just put it in the ground.

Posted May 19, 2012, 8:40 PM UTC

34
zeroair•

You might want to have a look at this thread.

3
xljj42<Dallas, Texas>, <8a>, <Beginner>, <5>•

It's a good thread.

3
TheAgreeableCowMelbourne, US9/AU3, Exp.•

Absolutely, the trunk is already showing a bit of taper. You defenitely want to put it in a large training pot. Since the roots are already disturbed, you can go for something shallow (but wide). This will help down the track when you want to start looking at bonsai pots

3
QcumbamanUSDA Zone 10a, Intermediate, lotsa trees, succulent fan•

I'll have to admit, I'm not experienced with this species, but I'd keep it in a training pot for a few years until it gets some nice size. It looks like it has nice trunk, branch, and root structure, so it's a good start. I googled some mature bonsai of this type and they looked pretty awesome. I think it'll be worth the (long) wait.

2