I went to Home Depot to get a new pot for my jade plant (not bonsai). It was around the middle of October and they had there last few trees and shrubs outside on sale. I grabbed a Dwarf Alberta Spruce. Not sure of the age. From soil to where they cut the top is 13". And the truck at the base is 1". And the foliage is pretty dense. I intend on putting it in the ground for a year or so. Or at least until I feel it is ready for my liking. My questions are... how much should I trim back the foliage before putting in the ground ? What kind of tile should I use to bury it on top of ? I have read a lot of books in the past few months and this is my 1st bonsai.

Any support would be a tremendous help. Thank you

My advice on your situation would be when spring comes to forgo you plans just to bury the spruce in the ground because when it comes to spruces they become a less vibrant tree when they have to fight for available light with the surrounding weeds and grasses. So assuming your tree is rootbound (because it has been probably living in the pot they planted it in for multiple years) and you want the greatest success rate possible during the tranplanting process and u dont want to root prune your first tree, I would reccomend putting it in a bigger pot this spring, by just taking the whole rootmass out of the old pot and into the new bigger pot and fill the remaining open space in the pot with standard bonsai soil (i use a mixture of oildry and sphagnum a little topsoil and aged bark pieces) And then the concern with foliage trimming can usually be answered best by just trimming the amount which best justifies the trees illusion of great age.