The Art of Bonsai

Category: Willow Leaf fig

  • A haircut

    Developing a bonsai requires many steps. One critical step is allowing the bonsai in development to grow wildly. This allows the tree to gain strength and to form branches that will be used in its development. Periodically the overgrown tree will be trimmed back, given a haircut to bring the design back to a more…

  • Reverse taper

    Trees ideally should have a wide root base that tapers up into the trunk. A bulge or lack of proper taper often ruins the visual flow from the rootline to the apex of the tree and is called reverse taper. In this case several root cuttings of Willow Leaf fig, Ficus salicaria, were bound togeter in…

  • Windswept style

    A few years back I styled a Willow Leaf cutting into a windswept style. I enjoyed the plant although it was a young and immature plant. The tree was re-potted some time ago and looking at the image of the plant revealed the tree was no longer attractive. What was the problem? Often when re-potting…

  • Twisting and turning design

    This is an exercise in bonsai creation that is just for fun. The plant is a Ficus salicaria, Willow Leaf fig,  grown from a root cutting. This was a very long root, perhaps 2 feet in length. Foliage has sprouted at the cut end but how to design a tree out of it? One possibility is…