Absolutely neither :-).

You'll be old and gray before either of those choices are anywhere close to being bonsai. What's done is to take a tree, whether old and naturally small from e.g. living on a cliff face in Japan (ahem) or a 3-5 yr old specimen from a nursery, etc. and training it with bonsai techniques to look old and interesting... you let it grow in the ground (fastest growth rate for natives - tropicals are another thing), from a seedling in your garden, until it has a real trunk, fair # of branches - you want the options different ones give you for styling in future - and then gradually cut back branches, etc, letting newer small ones grow in along with leaves which you learn to reduce in size over time. That all takes years, and knowledge of techniques and care for that type of tree in your particular climate, and I suggest strongly that you find a bonsai club nearby and attend a few mtgs, talk to people, see their trees and learn what bonsai's all about. Of course read many (not 1-2) books along the way - Amazon's got a great 2nd hand 'dept' of bonsai bks cheap, but I emphasize that as you have no clue yet (nothing personal!) to see many, until you know what matters and what doesn't, and which writer has a clue and who doesn't. Good luck!

This post was edited by moochinka on Thu, Jan 15, 15 at 22:13

Thanks moochinka.

That makes a lot of sense, and I am glad I asked.