need advice

hello i bought a hinoki cypress from a nursey where i live, it is small and i am wondering if i should leave it alone and allow it to grow or what exaclty i should do? i am afraid of killing it and would like to know what i should do? thanks for any advice

Hello Padawan and welcome. If you have access to a camera, it is always best to post an image so that members can help you out. Small trees can remain as small trees, or styled, returned to the ground for a few years to make a bigger tree. Pictures are best though.

How do you post a pic i can't figure that part out yet?

Click back to forum and then go to testing, posting images and tutorials.

Here: https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/testing-posting-images-tutorials-f4/

here it is

url=https://servimg.com/view/13643221/708][/url]

Well done. A lot of people have trouble posting at the begining. What I suggest you do first is clean out some of the internal foliage. Clean out between an inch, to 2 inches from the trunk, along the branches. This will allow you to see inside the tree. Less at the top though as you won't have very big branches or twigs to strip foliage from. Is this your first tree?

basically yes it is

would it be bad to trim now though because i read that its not good to trim in summer?

Light trimming in summer is usually OK, it is root work and repotting that you need to be careful of.

The label on the pot says something different is this a reused nursery pot?

Also it depends upon where you are in California, it is a big state with a lot of diverse climate zones.

(Re: "The label on the pot says something different is this a reused nursery pot?")

Hey Billy, I see a Hinoki in the pot; I think the container label is accurate. Or were you referring to something else?
Todd

well its a chamaecyparis obtusa and thats also a hinoki cypress, and im in the sacramento valley area where its been like 80-100 degrees lately

im thinking a formal upright form or broom?

Hi Bonsai Padawan,
Decisions on styling should be based first on initial impressions after looking at the trunk and roots. There may be roots exposed on the surface now, or some farther down into the soil which could be the (better) base. You want to find a nice flare where the trunk is thickest and the roots radiate around the trunk. Hinoki can make very nice formal uprights, informal uprights, literati, semi-cascades, cascades... it all depends upon the nebari (roots) and trunk base. Clean out the interior as Will suggested to help you see the trunk and branch selections more clearly. This hinoki is young stock, which means that you can select a style which suites your fancy, by wiring the trunk. It looks like a good healthy tree to start leaning how to create a bonsai. Consider looking for a local bonsai club for advice. Have fun with it!
Salut, Todd

Here's the Sacremento Bonsai Society:

CALIFORNIA - Sacramento


American Bonsai Assoc. of Sacramento. Meets the fourth Tuesday each
month at 7 pm. at the Sacramento Garden and Arts Center, 3330 McKinley
Blvd, Contact: Simon Lau, Phone: (530) 622-9681 Email:
NHCatLady@aol.com Website: http://www.bonsaisacramento.org. The club
has excellent educational programs, outreach to beginning bonsai-ists,
and high quality professional demonstrations.


Satsuki Aikokai Sacramento. Meets at the Shepard Garden Center, 3330
McKinley Blvd, third Monday each month at 7 at pm. Betty Pitts, 2701
Corabel Lane, #55, Sacramento, CA 95821. Contact: Ronn Pigram Phone:
(916) 428-8505 Email: satsukiaikokaisac@sbcglobal.net. Satsuki Aikokai
Sacramento Bonsai club IS the flowering bonsai club. We grow and care
for bonsai Satsuki Azaleas with an eye toward our show in mid May when
they are filled with flowers. Interested please come to our meetings!

so what can i use for a stablizer or something to keep the tree tight in the pot?

Some bonsai pots have small built in holes for wire, otherwise we use the drain holes, but most of us put wire in the pot before we begin planting because 90% of the time you need it to stabilize the tree. In a nursery pot you have to use the drain holes, or if thin plastic just punch some. The wire will come up and over the rootball and twisted tight.

thanks billy appreciate