Just do a tip pruning on your taller one-it'll naturally start branching out.I'd wait until late march to do this,and fertilize it at that time as well.A time release fertilizer will work well,but don't use too much of it. Oaks make excellent Bonsai subjects,and are relatively easy.Don't over fertilize them or you'll get a lot of weak growth and it'll look rangy.Feel free to contact me any time if you have any other questions.DJ~omniphasic@yahoo.com

i watered with a full flow garden hose every two days. we were in what I call a drought (not sure if we were scientifically)for almost two months around Easter time. i enjoy walking around watering everything with the hose. I did give it some osmocote. i made sure that it wasn't root bound too. It was very happy and growing very well then all of sudden the leaves turned brown. it started at the beginning of the week and by the end they were all totally brown. i did put a single stake in about a week before the browning started because the SE wind was causing it to lean. i tied it to the stake with a pair of nylon stockings, so that shouldn't have harmed it. maybe the osmoscote. i was once told not to fertilize anything that just came from the nurser since they keep everything well fertilized??

Growth rate isn't so important, because I know that a quality tree takes lots of time and I won't be the one who gets the most enjoyment from it. But the two seem to be pretty comparable according to what I've read. I do like the leaf shape of the Northern red...

Checking back in! Over the course of the months, the condition of both trees continued to decline: every time new leaves were put out, they all started to brown at the edges. (We planted another oak at the same time in the front yard, and that tree is 100% fine.) We made the decision to take them down, sadly. DH took the left one down to almost soil level about a month ago. I immediately 'treated' the bark/outer ring portion with Roundup. On a different day, he took the right tree down to about 3'. No Roundup applied to that one yet. How best to remove as much of the left stump as possible, so the grass can grow in? And if it wasn't a good idea to take the stump that low, we still have the opportunity to take a different approach with tree #2 (right). Thanks for any advice.