AusBonsai

OK so I have these two small trees, One Japanese maple which is about 50cm tall, this mainly due to the fact that it has a couple of long leaders that represent about 50% of the plants hight.
The other is a Chinese Elm which Stands aprox. 25cm tall.

I haven't touched these guys since I brought them home and was wondering what you guys think my first step should be
Initially I wasn't going to do anything at all, except maybe remove the two long leader shoots from the maple and leave it at that, now I find my self wondering if I should re-pot them in to something bigger like a polystyrene box or something of similar size.
But then ....
Would I be right In thinking that I shouldn't be re-potting at this time of year.

Any input or suggestions is much appreciated and here is a couple of photos.

Cheers Rustdust

I would carefully slip pot them into a lagger container. Be careful not to disturb the roots too much.

Rustdust, I would start to think where you want these trees in the future, unless you want a formal upright out of both of them, start getting some movement in the trunk, the younger they are the easier they will be to manoeuvre into a bend, a twist, a lean or other movement you had in mind. I don't do any maple, (wrong climate) so I'll also put to the forum about applying wire to a maple at this time or at the correct time but ( )they need a primary wiring.
Elms do well with some movement.
Great start
Watty

Rustdust, I think you can put them in large foam boxes now, but like the other post says don't disturb the root system to much. And yes you definitely need to get some shape in the trunks by wiring now, as they are young and flexible.

I agree with watty. Wire the maple trunk and put movement in it then chop the top back a little. You can put in a bigger pot any time of the year as long as you dont diturb the roots too much. The tree wont even flinch. As for the elm wire trunk and looks like you could also start wiring at least the bottom three branches. Put some movement in them and then trim the whole thing back a bit and let it grow again. Most of all have fun. If you stuff it get some more plants lol.

The advice given so far is good however you need to decide on three things before you do anything.

1. What size tree do you want? Under 25cm, 50cm etc.
2. What size trunk do you want, thin (feminine), medium or thick (sumo).
3. What style of tree do you want, informal upright, semi cascade etc.

Not to mention #4
4. What are the roots like? If you want a radial root system then you need to work on the roots mid-end winter. To work on them now is a bad idea due to the heat.

Your next step is based on how you answer the above questions. E.g. if you want a really thick / sumo trunk, then plant the tree in a foam box and heavily fertilize the tree. Remember that maples don't usually have very thick trunks. You need to have a general idea of what you want though it doesn't need to be set in concrete. You can always adapt your ideas to what future options your trees growth provides. Whatever you decide keep us posted

Hi

I would plant them into a deep foam box without disturbing the roots and layer as low as possible.
Instead of wrapping wire around the layer, I would cut a disc with a hole in the middle and wrap it around the layer to guide the roots out.
Then let it grow for 2-3 yrs. If you keep the condition right, you will get solid radial roots extending outwards and they will merge to become a nice flare or even melted pad.

With the nebari planned, you can start thinking about the top.
I don't tend to put movement into young elms or maples as they are often lost when I trunk chop anyway.
But it never hurts to do so to provide more options for the plant later on.

I have no bonsai, but i have committed to creating nice nebari with all my prebonsai so that some may become great bonsais one day.

Thank you everyone for you input so far, you guys have certainly given me much to think about, it will also help me to consider these points when buying pre-bonsai in the future.