Many people think that everything is OK when they buy a tree like this from professionals. Well, sort of, but not really. You have to know that this tree was around in a Japaese nursery fro a while when it was for sale. Nobody would dream of repotting it when it is about to be sold any day. This can last a couple of years though, especially with a big tree which is not bought so often. Then people think that the importer would, of course do the right things with the tree. Well, he does the right thing, which is sell it rigth away. It would never occur to him to repot a tree like this. So you ahve to assume that you have to reot this tree and work on it right away.
So this is the very first thing you do. You take the tree out of the container, cut the roots, prepare the nebari, get rid of all akadama which is fine in the mild climate of Japan, but sort of poison in central Europe and elsewhere. You bareroot the tree almost. You plant it into a proper container with very well draining substrate. And then you do nothing. You leave the tree alone for a few months.
Here the tree as imported. The pot is ridiculous, of course.
