My lone tropical specimen, this ficus nerifolia was slow to wake up this year, and part of the reason could be that it was pot-bound. I think it had been in this pot for 3 years. These trees are nearly epiphytes, but still it seemed it was time to repot.
A couple options
Yamafusa, slightly large.Koyo, maybe too small.
It took some effort to free the tree from the pot…
Roots combed outA little root pruningI went with this Yamafusa, 17.5” wide, significantly more room than the previous pot. The fat trunk and broad canopy can carry the size, even though the tree is short. This was my first Tokoname pot, and also was used with my Japanese maple in the 3rd US National Bonsai Exhibition in 2012.Settled in
Now that it’s repotted and settled in, it’s time for a little wire to orient the tree to its more inclined potting position.
A few outer shoots removed, and the lower left branch wired…good to go.
I have been studying bonsai since 1994, in an ever-increasing obsessive fashion. In our last 5 years prior to moving from Iowa to Alabama pursuing a career in the foodservice industry, my bonsai collection was limited to a few varieties that could survive brutal winters outside, or winters under dim light in the dank basement of our humble duplex...my wife puts up with a lot. Including the trailer hitch I put on our brown 1983 Chrysler New Yorker to pull a U-Haul full of trees to Nashville for a 3-month stop along the career path that led us to Alabama. 12 years later, we no longer have the New Yorker; and not a single one of those trees remain on my bench, having given the last holdout to a new club member this summer. I prefer collecting native trees and buying the classical species used in Japan, feeding organic, and reading everything I can get my hands on.
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Nebari Bonsai 
Such a lovely little tree…
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.