I haven't worked with any as bonsai, but don't let suitability stop you from using cheap material as a learning experience.

A very small window of learning here that most newbies can't seem to look through. ANY plant found happily growing in your landscape should be telling you something. Mainly that it does well outside :-). Some form of protection may be in order based on your climate and its hardiness.

IMHO nothing looks sillier than a twig in a bonsai pot, but that's just me. I would save the bonsai pots for when I have something that will look suitable in them. I grow plants for years before a bonsai pot may come into play.

randy

Randy.....You are right about the pots. I have some saucers that are deep I can start out with. I can just imagine this beautiful twisted loblolly that looks a hundred years old.(Im being realistic. I know I wont obtain a twisted old looking tree overnight.) I knew alot of pines are used for bonsai, but I wasnt sure about this kind. I also have an over abundance of red maples. Those are good too??? Right??? I dont mind starting out with a maple, but would love to try this pine....Thanks.....

See if you can find (it's not old) a copy of Michael Persiano's recent book on pines (forget name), because it's very good, but in the interim look at www.evergreengardenworks.com/articles and there's a lot of really good info. there.

I agree with Lucy, study is important. Pines are a complicated species and no two of them act exactly alike. Loblolly Pine is probably not your best choice because the needles are so long and will probably never reduce enough to make a believable bonsai. Work for the sake of experience is not bad but don't discourage yourself if the tree does not respond the way you hope it will.

I have what I believe to be loblolly pine. In nature the needles are pretty long, but I've managed to reduce mine to about 2 inches. Right now, the tree is young and the foliage is sparse, but I have managed to reduce the needles.

It was in a pot I got another tree in at the nursery. Above the nursery towered old pines, which isn't unrealistic to think were loblollies (Middle-upstate SC). I've grown this one from a seedling, mostly on a whim.

I don't know how easily they are collected, but good advice is to collect as much rootball as you can, and do it before the growing season begins (but after most of winter has gone).

Red maple isn't typically used for bonsai, though I have grown one with pretty good results. The leaves don't reduce well and the branching is kind of sparse. They also don't like having their roots messed with too much or going dry. An automated timer snafu managed to be the catalyst in killing mine (coupled with a fall from the bench) so I have no long term results to offer you. I know that some DO use [i]A. rubrum[/i] for bonsai, but they're usually up front about the results and tend to be large bonsai to make up for the large leaves.