The Art of Bonsai

Category: defoliation

  • Ficus ‘ExoticaJS’ and defoliation

    This Ficus ‘ExoticaJS’ has been in training for only a few years from rough pre-bonsai stock. It is an excellent material for bonsai and it is not often available for sale. Periodically I defoliate many of my bonsai figs. Doing this produces smaller leaves and makes the tree more showable. It also allows me to…

  • Ficus ingens, the Red Leaf Rock fig

    Ficus ingens, the Red Leaf Rock fig, is an African species that is not very commonly used for bonsai. I have been working with several plants and do not find them the easiest species for leaf size control, and proper density of branching. Here is one before defoliation with old, tired leaves. The appearance is…

  • How to work with a large leaf bonsai

    Utilizing large leaf plants for bonsai is difficult. There are various techniques to deal with plants that have large leaves, like Ficus benghalensis. The first shot shows the tree with its various sized leaves. These are large but already reduced just by being grown in a small container. The second shot shows the tree in…

  • Defoliation of my Ficus rubiginosa, PJ fig

    I have had this fig for many years. In the last year or so I have just pinched out areas that needed restraining and left other areas to grow out to create heavier branches where needed. You can see the wide variation in the leaf size depending upon how the branch was maintained.