here is a picture of my bonsai garden that's immediately aside of the pond in the japanese garden. The bonsai tree is lebanese cedar like one reads about in the olde testament.....
I have a Catalpa tree that I started from seed in a standard sized ceramic gallon pot. It's 4 years old now and about 3' tall. Of course, I know zip about bonsai. Any suggestions what to do with it?
Nice tree named after the 'Catapult' machine because it will lay siege on your house and family.
Site Requirements: Requires moist, well drained soil like next to your septic tank. Only plant in ground when house is adjacent to golf course or large public park.
Ht: 60 - 80 feet
Width: 40 - 50 feet
Caution comments: Do not picnic under the catapult tree..brittle wood. Do not allow tree to grow-out of pot.
Plus comments: Considered by many to be a 'weedy' tree.
in addition to what has been offered about the tree, the leaves are pretty big and never quite develop that "believeable" scale that helps make a bonsai. I think a juniper would be a good start if you wanted to try learning from a subject.
In the southeastern US, GOB's plant catalpa trees because they will always have plenty of catalpa worms (a caterpillar) on them. The worms are prized fishing bait for bream. Koi would probably like them too.