Here is something fairly small for you.  I purchased this tree from Guy Guidry at the 2005 World Expo in DC.  I nearly killed it about a year or so later.   It took another year or more to rebuild the tree from that episode.  I moved it back into a Chinese container this growing season.  The trunk is a little over an inch across and the tree is 6" tall including the pot.  Other than my one watering mishap, which is very often all it takes with small trees, this tree has been very easy to care for.  It did have pink blooms one season when it was in the ground but I keep it too pruned for it to bloom in a container.  It does have a couple of long roots near the surface which forced me to place in off center in its round container.  This will be corrected at the next repotting.

I encourage your feedback,
John

John,

Very nice little tree.  If you don't mind me asking, was the "watering mishap" how you almost killed it?

What have you discovered regarding the care of this tree?  What type of soil.  How often do you repot such a small tree?

Thanks for playing show and tell with us, I'm really enjoying it.  I'm sure I (and others) will continue to learn from your posts.

The watering mishap was like many others...the tree didn't get watered...all the leaves got crispy and fell off...all the branches died back to the trunk...I was so disappointed:(

I mentioned my bog garden in another post...on the edge of it I have a low area where the bog garden leaked for a couple of years.  This little spot has proven to be one of them most fertile in my entire garden...I pulled the little CM from its pot and placed it in the ground there.  In a few weeks buds came...In 2 growing seasons the tree was significantly different but ready to resume its life as a bonsai. 

I do use finer soil for my small trees but I think the secret is growing them submersed in turface fines....what else are you suppose to do with all those fines after sifting??

I hope that helps,
John

Hey Irene...about 10 years ago I built 5 table tops.  They were made from 5/4 decking lumber and skirted with 5/4 ripped boards.  All I did was turn the table upside down and fill it with turface...nothing fancy at all...the turface is at most 2" deep.  I laid some nylon screening beneath the turface so that the turface would not wash through the spaces between the boards.  The upper table you see in the right side of the picture is the same as the underside of the lower table.

I hope this helps,
John

It certainly does, John! great post!
Chris

John,

I'm still confused. Is the turface box what you are refering as the bog garden or something else? BTW many folks use a similar set up for sohin but use sand. You must go through allot of turface. My finds get recycled to the growing beds, but I might add something similar to what you have there to my greenhouse.

The bog garden is something completely different...it is the area that these trees are planted in....it's filled with pea gravel
 

Last time I bought turface I got 500lbs.  That will take a couple years to use:)  Now, I just need some able-bodied young person to go and sift decomposed granite from the river for me