Ficus Microcarpa before work.

Ficus are a wonderful species to work with for bonsai. They are forgiving, fast growing, beautiful in my humble opinion and easy to grow in Central Florida. I have said it before, if you are starting out in bonsai, then I don't think that there is a better species to get started with.

This tree was one of my first "keepers" that I purchased some years ago. It's come a long way, but I feel that it's lacking in one very important area that is not likely to fix itself with time. And that thing is the nebari (surface root flare).

Good nebari is one of the essential properties that every good bonsai tree should have, the other being a good trunk. It's also, probably, the most difficult to fix if your tree does not already have it.

There are a number of techniques that can be employed to help rectify your root problems, be they weak flare or uneven distribution. I found myself dealing with the latter when it came to my ficus microcarpa.

As you can see in the second and third pictures here, the right side of the nebari was lacking flare and roots. In fact, it receded into the trunk a little creating a very uninteresting inward curve that made the tree look like it just popped out of the soil with no anchoring to the pot. This is basically true.

The right side needs help.

This issue was repeated at the back of the tree as well, just not as bad. Still it would need attention too.

Based on the fact that ficus "meld" into each other very easily, I decided to use a method that I've referred to as a graft here, but is technically not really a graft. Grafting involves exposing the cambium layer of the host tree and presenting the scion in one of a variety of methods, allowing the host tree to then grow into the scion. What I have done does not expose the cambium.

Instead, what I did here is anchor a smaller tree against the host tree. As both trees continue to grow they will grow into each other and "meld" into one. You can do this with ficus. You can do this with other species as well, such as most maples. However, it's not a technique that can be used with everything.

These little trees will be added to the base.

The first step to this is obtaining the donor material. I had been preparing for this for some time by planting and growing cuttings from the very tree that would be the host. In fact, the larger of the two trees that I attached used to be a branch on this very tree, but had to be removed because of an ingrown wire that had left a very ugly bulge. Many Chinese trees will show signs of this.

Once you know what your donor material is going to be and it's ready to be working with, it's time to remove the soil from the host tree.

Now, it's not completely necessary to do this. Many times these procedures are carried out with the tree still firmly planted in it's pot. I did not want to do that, because I wanted to inspect the nebari before I did anything. It was time for a repot anyway, so I just took advantage and had a look.

With the roots exposed the back can be clearly seen.

It's a good thing too, because it let me find an area that would look strange once I start potting this tree in shallower pots and exposing more of the roots. I would have to add a root there too.

I used wire to hold the trees together loosely enough to allow me to play around with it a little and get just the right angle and contact point. It's important to keep a spray bottle with water handy as you work. Dry roots are dead roots. Mist it down every few minutes to make sure they stay happy.

Once I've decided where the trees would go I drilled a small hole through the scion and into the host. The hole was just big enough to accept a galvanized wood screw without splitting the tree. Very important. I also carved a small recess at the opening of that whole to hide the screw head. After I screwed it all together, I treated the hole with sealant covering both hole and screw. This will eventually grow over and any sign of the screw and this operation will disappear.

Ready to anchor it to the host tree.

Now to address the back. I thought this area was not as sever as the front. A much smaller sapling would do the trick. However, I was not as well prepared for this and paid the price for it. Let me share my failure so that you may avoid my mistake.

Since the donor was small, I thought I would just staple it in place. So, BAM, I shot a staple into it. It didn't take very well. So I stapled it some more. BAM, BAM, that should do it... No, it did not do it. By the time I gave up on the staples and actually MADE my own brass pins, the damage had already been done.

All finished. Time to let it grow and heal.

The pins worked great. Maybe if had gone that route in the first place it would have worked just fine. But I didn't do that. No, instead I pounded it to death with useless staples and it quickly died. Eventually, I'll dig a little channel, remove the dead sapling, and replace it with a new sapling I already have growing.