More dumb questions from the newb....

[Nubster]

I have been wondering some things that haven't been covered in the couple books I got from the library yesterday and can't find in my reading done on the internet....

If I go out and find a nice nursery tree and it's...well...a tree...how can one go about taking it from 6-8 feet tall to something that will work as a bonsai? Same with a field tree.

If I find a tree and collect it and bring it home and bury it to grow for some time, how do I keep it on the short side while getting the trunk to get thicker?

That's it for now...I'm sure there will be more to come.

 

[mat]

In general, you just hack it back (down) to where you'd like to see new growth or the next angle in the trunk begin. Most healthy trees will then sprout new growth at and around that point. This certainly doesn't apply to every species, so don't go buy a bunch of things this weekend and hack them back to nothing without doing a little species-specific research first.

This method also takes a long time. You may be better off buying a plant with a decent trunk already and working from there.

 

[mat]

If you want the trunk to get thicker, you need foliage on top. The more foliage, the faster it will thicken. Here are a few good articles that discuss this:

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/growprin.htm

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/trunks.htm

 

[Nubster]

So how much growth needs to be left in order for the stump to survive and start growing again? I see some videos where the stump is literally a completely bare stump and it seems like there is no way that anything could come from it.

***Thanks for the link***

Yeah, I want to try to find something that is at least close to being workable so I can start this season at least a little bit. But I also don't mind setting my self up for trees to come several years from now.

 

[mat]

So how much growth needs to be left in order for the stump to survive and start growing again? I see some videos where the stump is literally a completely bare stump and it seems like there is no way that anything could come from it.

***Thanks for the link***
.

How much depends on the species (or maybe the genus). If you cut a pine down to a stump, you'll soon have a dead stump. You can chop a healthy Ficus down to barely a nub, and buds will pop all over it in the right conditions.