Hello, I was given a Japanese Maple Tree Bonsai 2 years ago. Somehow it got away from me when it was not pruned and is now getting quite large. We could take it back to the bonsai store and ask to have it severely pruned to shape but am wondering if it would not be better to plant it in the ground at this point? It is about 24 inches tall by about 36 inches wide. I am wondering what kind of Japanese Maple it might be and whether it will stay small or grow to be a 20 foot tree in the yard? Thanks for all advice. Mistral
its hard to tell from the photo, but i sispect you have a straight genus on your hands. just plain ol' acer palmatum. this tree if left alone to its own devices, will reach hieghts of 35-40 ft or more. you can prune it back quite hard and with good results. you should expect to see new eager buds in a couple of weeks below the cut. if you want to develop more girth of the trunk, then i would strongly suggest planting in the open ground. by doing so the roots will grow outward pulling with them the trunk, thickining rapidly. if you want to shape the trunk after gaining some girth, chose an interesting low side branch, make your cut just imidiatly above it to a smooth transition, and seal the new wound to encourage healing. you can find the cut paste at your local bonsai shop in which you have purchased your tree. i grow all my trees in the ground to develope trunk size. then transplant in a training pot to develope branch structure later. its alot quicker that way. the pot resticts the roots, and the trunk size slows to a creep. with proper feeding, i have seen as much as an inch or two in one season of my bonsai planted in open ground for fast development. the ground is faster, but the branch structure will suffer as its hard to get alot of refinement and fine branching. the branches will grow really fast too! be careful not to let your tree quickly get out of shape. scary stuff huh? i know it seems like a lot of info, but its tried and true!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the advice. I will attempt the things you suggested. Yes, it is rather scary stuff as I am accustomed to encouraging all plants to grow bigger, larger, faster! Mistral
Once it reaches the size, fitting the pot, that you wish after all the 'training', the tree will need constant care in terms of pruning if you wish to keep to keep it at a certain size so that it continues to comfortably sit in its pot, growing. Try to read up everything you can on pruning for bonsai, including root pruning.