They're taking down a huge Austrian pine where I work. I asked if they could leave the root ball and a portion of the trunk. They will dig it up, too. How big is too big? I'll bet the trunk is 1.5-2.0 feet in diameter. Can that be turned into bonsai?
Austrian Pine Yamadori: How big is too big?
- Thread starter Cioffi
- Start date
Wulfskaar
Omono
That seems way too big. 
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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It is up to you, how big is too big for you to physically handle? Can you lift it by yourself? Especially for public collections, and public gardens, large sizes are not a limit. There are "Two Man" bonsai, and there are "Forklift" bonsai. IF you have a forklift, or a team of gardeners, then there is no limit.
The larger the starting material, the longer the "initial chop" will take to heal. A trunk over a foot in diameter will take 15 to 25 years to heal the cut wound. It will take nearly as long to develop the next segment of trunk, to get a reasonable transition in taper. But if you are a teenager, with a long bonsai career ahead of you, you might want to put the time in.
Myself, I would consider that tree simply too big. If I can't lift a tree easily, I consider it too big. If the wound won't heal in 5 years or so, I consider it too big.
So it is up to you. That you had to ask, indicates it is probably too big.
The larger the starting material, the longer the "initial chop" will take to heal. A trunk over a foot in diameter will take 15 to 25 years to heal the cut wound. It will take nearly as long to develop the next segment of trunk, to get a reasonable transition in taper. But if you are a teenager, with a long bonsai career ahead of you, you might want to put the time in.
Myself, I would consider that tree simply too big. If I can't lift a tree easily, I consider it too big. If the wound won't heal in 5 years or so, I consider it too big.
So it is up to you. That you had to ask, indicates it is probably too big.
roberthu
Chumono
Finding a pot to fit it is going to be a big challenge. You can plant it in your back yard as a garden tree though
