This formal upright kukui is grown from seed and is about six years old and is in a plastic growing pot. This is the before shot.
The kukui is first defoliated by cutting the leaves off their petioles (leaf stems), leaving only a few of the very smallest leaves.
The dead branch in the front was also removed.
The structure of the tree is revealed, enabling some decisions to shorten some of the branches.
I have a repaired rectangular Japanese bonsai pot that is just a little oversize to use as a growing pot. I put in six screens and sand,
then a layer of potting soil. This side of the tree is the better front, I think.
I remove the tree from the pot, then I remove most of the old soil from the roots. No root pruning is required this time.
I place the tree on a mound of soil in the growing pot. The tree, with its new front, moves to the right, so the tree is placed just slightly
to the left of center. The pot is then filled with potting soil.
The soil is pressed around the roots with fingers and then leveled in the pot. The rootage (nebari) of the tree is just above the rim of the pot.
Next I put a layer of wet sand over the soil. This helps hold the soil down while I soak the pot in water.
The finished bonsai. It might go into a slightly smaller pot in a few years.
Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com