What time of year?

I have been inspired by the following thread (https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t11010-birch-only-4yo) and want to attempt something similar with trees at my cottage.

My question is, once I have found the tree(s) I want to try this with, when is the best time of the season to cut off the top portion of the tree, and how much time should pass between this step and extracting the tree from the ground?

Should such a cut be made in the autumn, or in the spring?

If such a cut is made in the autumn, is the following spring to early to extract the tree? If the cut is made in the spring, I assume a full year should pass until the tree is extracted (following spring?).

Thanks in advance for your help.

What type of tree? Thread refers to a birch... Is this what you're going to use as well?

My preference is a birch tree as there are many at my cottage and I read they provide good practice because of quick growth.

But I am open to other trees provided they can survive this procedure.

I am new to bonsai. I don't want to go out and kill a 50 year old tree trying this, so I would like to stick to younger trees that can grow fast and provide me with good practice.

There are several pine trees at my cottage too, but I haven't been up there in a while and wasn't into bonsai last time I went, so there will be a lot of scouting involved.

I chop at the time of collection..usually late winter/early spring.

I also just done the same a few weeks ago so it really depends on the plant species you are going after.

I am in zone 3, and the cottage might be borderline zone 2.

I will only be extracting in spring.

i'm in a similar hardiness zone & have collected in both autumn and spring --- no birch, mind you: 'cedar' [ie: thuja], tamarack [larcina] and jack pine.
for what it's worth: i've consistently had better success [and survival rate] with specimens collected in spring.

even if you plan to collect in spring, you could do some preliminary pruning and go around the root ball [deep] with a spade this autumn [after dormancy].
it's a little gentler way to coax them toward bonsai culture --- and with the trees being situated on your property, you will at least know where they are come the spring dig.

It may be a bit late, but it would have been a good idea to have root pruned the tree, while it is actively growing, by alternately cutting roots close to the trunk and not around the tree. The cut roots would generate new fine roots and root hairs near the trunk while the uncut ones would keep it going this season. Then next spring when the tree is dug out it will have those new roots to live on while regenerating fine roots from the roots you cut getting it out of the ground. It may still be worth trying because roots can continue growing as long as the soil temperature is above 40F. If you wait until after dormancy, there might not be much time left to grow roots and hence, it would be pointless.

EpicusMaximus wrote:I have been inspired by the following thread (https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t11010-birch-only-4yo) and want to attempt something similar with trees at my cottage.

My question is, once I have found the tree(s) I want to try this with, when is the best time of the season to cut off the top portion of the tree, and how much time should pass between this step and extracting the tree from the ground?

Should such a cut be made in the autumn, or in the spring?

If such a cut is made in the autumn, is the following spring to early to extract the tree? If the cut is made in the spring, I assume a full year should pass until the tree is extracted (following spring?).

Thanks in advance for your help.

well i'm flattered to hear that my little project inspired you, epicus ;-). Thats why i posted it, to let young folks/beginners know that if you pick the right species to start with, you CAN get quick results, that'll give you a boos to get going. HAVE FUN