Your question touches on an area where the more experienced growers sometimes need to lighten up. They have come to understand that bonsai is about the application of techniques that facilitate our transforming a chosen tree into something that replicates a mature tree as you might find it in nature. They understand that bonsai need to be evocative and tell a story when admired.

While seedlings really can't be made to look old, they won't always be seedlings. No tree begins life as an ancient. They all have to grow and go through the aging process before they can look old or mature. Fissured bark, heavy branching, taper in the trunk ..... are all things a seedling lacks.

I'm all for encouraging anyone that wants to call a young plant in a pot a bonsai to do just that. The indulgence it might require and the encouragement it offers is just too important to the budding artist to be replaced with discouragement. All bonsai are works in progress, and every creation had a beginning. There is no reason you can't start with a seedling in a pot and train it as your bonsai. Your challenge then, would be to learn as you go, what it takes to keep it healthy and to improve the illusion that it is indeed a mature tree you might find in nature.

Bonsai is soo unique in that there is an unlimited volume of information and an unlimited number of techniques you can learn/utilize beyond the basics. It will always and forever be whatever challenge you make of it.

The experienced bonsai practitioner will probably tell you the very best thing you could do with the seedlings is plant them out if they're hardy where you live and allow them to get some size (trunk caliper). After a year or two, you'll chop them back to give them the taper I mentioned, and maybe lift them from the ground every other year & rotate the plant, correcting root problems in the process. For most trees, a nice shohin size trunk can be achieved in 3-5 years. There is no harm in nurturing your young trees in pots during that time, but if you develop a forward looking eye early in your bonsai endeavors, something very few do, I promise it will serve you very well.

Good luck!

Al

I think I might try planting them in the ground, like you have mentioned, so they get more... form to them. I also would have to see what I have to work with too (he's ordered a bunch of trees).

Hello! I completely agree with Al.

I love starting seeds and growing plants from "scratch," as it were.
However, I've realized that this is the long, slow method of bonsai production.
And so now I have a mix of plants, from seedlings to cuttings, to more established plants.
None of my plants are anywhere close to being "finished," but they're coming along.

If I could plant trees in-ground (without fear of deer), I would certainly do so.

Josh

That also reminds me, I remember reading months ago on someone's page about thickening the trunk of a bonsai. They said the only way it can be done is if it's planted in the ground, not even placing it in a giant pot will yield the desired results.

Anyone able to confirm or deny this?

I've got a bunch of surinam cherry seedlings I need to transplant, I may turn one into a bonsai in 4ish years.