rockm

A couple of things about Eastern U.S. oaks as bonsai.

1. They generally don't make good bonsai because they have very large leaves that don't reduce well.

2.They don't ramify--or produce the fine twigging that makes bonsai look good.--very much.

3.Unfortunatley, growing Eatern oak species from acorns is the worst way to use marginal material. It will take a decade before you have anything that can actually be worked on. and what you wind up working on probably isn't going to be an award winner for the most part.

If you are set on making an oak bonsai, seek collectable older, more mature, trunks of white or red oak. Trees up to 6 to 9 inches in diamter can be dug with some care and a little work. These trunks can be developed into relatively presentable bonsai in five years or less.

Also consider "non-native" oak species. I work with collected live oak from Texas here in Va. It is a reliably hardy species here and is very responsive in terms of leaf reduction and root pruning (two necessary characteristics that eastern white and red oak don't really have). If you can provide more substantial winter shelter in a cold frame, or cold greenhouse, you might also consider Quercus suber--cork oak, or one of the more amenable California live oaks as a bonsai subject.