The Art of Bonsai Project

Hi All

This is a picture of one of my Ficus Parasethica's that i have had with me for a couple of years now.

I picked this one up from a home of a Bonsai artist who had passed away about 8 years ago. at collection the tree had lost all its shape and had grown into a monster. It was still in its original bonsai pot at the time. Some of the roots had gone onto the ground.

Since then pruned it down wired it and have repotted into a new pot. the leafs are still too big for the design and am currenty working on getting some branch ramification.

Please share your thoughts on the tree.

PS - Estimated age - 80 years

Devinda Peries

Hi Devinda,

Congrats on owning such a wonderful tree. I am particularly impressed by the trunk mass and also the age of the tree.

My comments on styling - Firstly the tree needs to be styled and no left in its current state.

Two options emerge.

The first an informal upright. For this the thickest of the four main branches, the one on the top slanting towards the left,has to be turned right and developed as the continuation of the trunk. The other branches then need to be arranged accordingly so that the informal upright shapes comes out.

The second option is broom style. For this I would recommend that you shorten the same longest of the four branches to the length of the other three. You might also consider removing this branch totally as there is a mismatch in the thickness of the other branches when compared to this.

While in this development stage you might want to use a larger growth pot or one that is deeper than the one in the photo.