每日吃瓜

Hello experts in nice little corner of internet.

I recently moved house and the previous owners left this little oak in a pot. Can I bonsai it? I have zero experience but am determined to be one of you. Thanks for any help you can offer, even in identifying the variety. I'm guessing an English oak?

Have a splendid day.?? ? ?

The short answer is yes.

I think it needs quite a lot of trunk thickening before it is ready. So at this point it is just about repotting and wiering if possible.

Great news! I look forward to the challenge.

Thanks for your help @Tropfrog.

If you (or anyone else) has any advice on things like potting mix and size of pot for growing this outdoors, it would be most welcome.?

Any potting mix, dirt based soil or compost will be fine at this stage. The bigger pot the better. Even planting it in the ground on top of a something flat is better. Right now maximum growth speed is what you want.

Outdoors? Yes, correct. There are no special considerations for growing oak within their natural distribution range. However growing it out of their range or indoors takes special conciderations. Outside the distribution range, the answer varies with location. Indoors the only consideration is that it will die If not moved outdoors.

Sounds good. Into the ground it goes then I think.

Thank you again, you've been most helpful. I'll take it from here! Wish me luck.?

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I was unsure whether to start a new topic or continue here. I have potted the oak in the ground as per recommendation. I am now a bit unsure on what to do about fertiliser. There seems to be conflicting advice on this. Should I be fertilising in this first week? Google seems to say not to fertilise a newly planted oak for a year! But elsewhere on this forum I have read otherwise.?

It's been in the ground 3 days. It's had two buckets of water (one every other day), a bit of pruning, lots of sun, but no fertiliser as of yet.

Any help appreciated. Thanks.?

Personally I do not fertilize any of my trees in the ground except for mulching with some compost in spring. Natural soil processes includes slow breakdown of the organics and slow release of fertilizer. If you live in an area where trees grow naturally, I see no reason for fertilizers. If no trees grows naturally where you are. Improving soil before planting the tree would be my recomendation.

There is very little to do to the tree for the next 6-8 months, so what you should do is find a bonsai group near you and join it, go to workshops, look at their trees, ask questions, learn vocabulary, and get ready for February/March when you might do something bonsai-artistic to the tree.

Ask a lot of questions, and ask different people the same question. You will get different answers. As with any artistic effort, first you learn the rules, then you learn how to break them.?