questions about zelkova serrata and oriental spruce

bman

i recently was gifted two trees, already in bonsai pots and some what trianed, from a friend that were obtained from a small bonsai nursery.

the zelkova is about 8inches tall with a trunk on the diameter of a pencil, about the same for the spruce.

the more i have been reading this last month or so since i have been given these trees, it sounds like i need to put them ( if not just the zelkova) in the ground , wait some time, then trunk chop it to thicken it up to be more suitable. should i also put the spruce in the ground? (though apparently not trunk chop it)

and would large containers, 5 or 10 gallon, be sufficient instead of in the ground? if so, what type of soil mix should i use? is an organic potting soil exceptable for that, and then later when i put them in to their bonsai containers switch to a proper bonsai soil mix? and what time of year would be best to transplant them to these larger containers?

i would just put them in the ground, but i would need to do a huge amount of soil conditioning to get the soil up to par to plant anything, so really, if large containers are pluasable they would be much better for my situation.

thanks for any help

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