Hi, willows are 'native' trees, which means cold hardy, which means right now they're going dormant for winter and can't be 'done' anything with til spring. And they do have to live outdoors for life - as does anything that normally lives outside in the U.S., except for southern Florida, maybe places in the SW, etc... tropicals. Plus they're probably not the best plant to start off with in bonsai (did you see a picture of a beautiful willow bonsai somewhere :-)? On one hand, you say you'll do the homework, but on the other you're asking how to do a bonsai... which is a big, big subject - taking into account all the horticulture involved for (potentially) hundreds of different trees, soil components, climates, wintering tips, humidity tricks, etc. etc. Your best bet would be to find a local club, as they're terrific places to learn, where you can see first hand how to do things. Your next best would be books (not just one because each will have its own viewpoints, overlapping info. or not. Suggest you look at amazon.com's bonsai bk section under "Used" and find relatively recent ones by Colin Lewis, Herb Gustafson, Harry Tomlinson, Deb Koreshoff, and Paul Lesniewicz (who specializes in tropicals for indoor growing). A really good, basic guide to almost everything bonsai (including how to choose your first tree) is www.evergreengardenworks.com/articles (mostly for 'outdoor' trees), and www.bonsaihunk.us/cultural.html which is really great for tropicals (particularly ficus - figs - which are available all over in many varieties). What you shouldn't do is buy first, cry later (they won't wait while you learn!). and especially don't buy 'bonsai' from big box stores, Wal-Mart, HD, etc. til you've done a lot of learning - that's because half are dead on the shelf but don't show it for wks (mostly junipers - which cannot be grown indoors contrary to what clerks and one-size-fits-all care tags say!), often also come with problems like spider mites, and all are planted in soggy peat based potting soil with no grit for absolutely necessary fast drainage - a huge aspect of growing bonsai is soil mixes and how to water properly. They also come with pebbles glued to the soil that then must be pried off and discarded, and do not try to grow moss on anything as it competes for water with the trees (and the tree usually loses). You'll find you're much better off to use either (for indoors) house plants from anywhere if they're suitable for bonsai and your home - you'll likely need to get special lighting or, for outdoors, 3-5 yr old inexpensive nursery trees - better established, healthier and less expensive than store-bought, plus you get to DIY, which is what's so satisfying. Good luck and do at least read both those websites 'cover to cover' before anything else!

Hello Redghost, and welcome to the forum and to bonsai! Here are some previous threads talking about bonsai books.

-Audric

"bonsai for beginners" is a website that walks you through each step with pics and info. go to the site and on the left side is a button that says something like "creating a bonsai"

i was clueless until i stumbled upon it.

ALSO: go to google video and search "bonsai"
there are a few vids on replanting and stuff

Nepheron - I'm afraid you may still be not far from clueless - that site is not really very good - the info's mainly there to sell their trees, is mainly about native N. Zealand trees (in that environment), and there's really not much of it.

sorry ;)