How to bonsai a Fuji cherry we’re going to be taking it From a garden center sort of material And then turning it into a starter Bonsai tree we’re going to be working on The roots and the top of the tree [Music] All right so i’m in a different area of My garden right now because over on that Side the sun was in my eyes and i think The backdrop here looks pretty nice so This is the fuji cherry that we’re going To be working on today i got this in the Garden center for 12 pounds 45 and Around this time of the year they start To stand out because they’ve got these Beautiful cherry blossoms so the first Thing we’re going to do is we’re going To work on the roots of the tree this Thing that i’m using here is like a Giant like drip tray for a giant pot i Just use it for mixing soiling and Working on trees so i don’t make a mess So the first thing i’m going to do is Take the cherry out of the pot and we’re Going to work on the roots to begin with Now this tool that i’m using here is Just a bonsai root rake i’m going to Start by raking outwards from the top of The tree and whenever you rake at roots
You want to work outwards from the trunk So if i spend this tree here i’m always Working away from the trunk and that way It promotes any lateral growing roots That are growing outwards to give you a Nice nebari now the aim of what i’m Doing here is all i want to do is reveal The nebari that’s on down because Oftentimes garden center plants like This are planted deeper than they need To be The soil mix that this is in is actually Pretty nice i think it’s a mix of Compost and pearlite which gives it good Drainage because it’s falling away from The roots here pretty nicely whenever You get to about this point and you have A good lot of the roots off you want to Take the tree and be very careful not to Break any of the younger branches but Turn it upside down and we’re going to Rake from the bottom now outwards when You’re raking the bottom of a root mass Like this at the same as the top that You’re making radially from the trunk You want to rake regularly from the Center of the bottom of the tree also I’m not too worried about losing some Roots here because i know that it’s Springtime and the tree will do just Fine when i repot this i’m not tearing That much roots off but all i’m doing is Loosening the soil that’s around the Roots so this is as far as i’m gonna
Take this right now i’m gonna give these Roots a nice wash and that will remove Any of the extra soil around this root Ball As i’m washing the roots i can see where There’s some extra soil stuck i’m just Going to use this opportunity to just Keep raking And it’s good to moisten roots whenever You’re working on a tree too because if The roots dry out the tree may not Survive so you won’t always even if You’re working in roots and you’re not Washing them keep a spray bottle nearby Just to keep them wet all right so this Is where like the real fun begins now We’ve just washed the wrists we’ve got To write all the old soil now we’re Going to do is sort of untangle the Roots and cut off any roots that are Crossed in or grown in weird directions That way whenever these roots thicken And they’re older they’re not sort of Going and twisting and circling around The trunk so i’m going to start by Looking at the top of this tree here What i want the wrist to do is come down And then sort of Flare out from the trunk the entire way Around so anyways that’s not following That rule i’m going to get rid of so Starting with this route right here you Can sort of see that it comes out and Then it must have hit the side of the
Pot and started to curl around already This root is too long and i want to Reduce it so i’m going to reduce it to Just at the point where it sort of turns Off Just like that we can take the red and Put it over there you can already see This one too it goes over and then Straight down so it must have had the Side of the pot and went down and cut This one here So the trunks here and these roots here Are growing straight up i’m going to get Rid of any root to sort of growing in an Upward direction right here i notice There’s like an extremely thick root and It’s going off at a weird angle it’s Coming out this way and going up and Then down just shorten that Same here There’s another strange one going on Here that’s sort of too thick and it’s Going off in weird angles we’re just Going to cut that there Any root that’s growing straight down I’m also going to shorten so from the Very bottom of the root ball i’m just Gonna cut straight across And then from there we’ve sort of Listened up that area now we can just Rake it out I’m gonna go wash some more of the soil Off here and i’m back now we can really See what’s going on here now there’s no
Soil in the way there’s a big thick root Coming off the side of this i’m going to Reduce that and see what happens so i Don’t want to take off too much root i Just need to see what this is connected To okay it’s not that much got rid of a Bag root there’s one here crossing which Is really annoying and i don’t know if It’s gonna work in the final design of The tree So yep okay it’s very thick i’m gonna Cut it here I’m going to cut it here also That’s quite a thick Root Going off to the left I’m going to pull that out All right so i’ve took off quite a lot Of it i don’t want to push it any more Than i have maybe a few more here and There and that will be it but if you Remove too much root all in the one time The tree may not survive and i think at This point now the tree will be healthy Enough with the roots that it has so Before you repot the tree you first have To prepare the pot i’ve already put one Piece of wire into the pot another piece Of wires is just aluminium bonsai wire So i’m feeding in two wires and this is What’s going to hold the tree into the Pot there’s two main reasons why we Would wire a tree into a pot the first Is if the tree falls over or the pot
Falls over from the wind the tree won’t Fall out of the pot and the roots won’t Get too disturbed another reason is that Whenever it’s windy here and you have The trees outdoors any sort of wobble in The tree that could happen from the wind Could hinder any small new fibrous Really delicate roots from growing Further so we really want to secure the Tree in the pot whenever we wire it in The soil mix i’m using today i’ll have a Video about soil types and soil mixes Today i’m using a mix of akadama pumice Lava rock and compost we’re going to get A scoop of soil first and just put some Soil into the bottom of the pot mix it All around make sure it’s nice and Evenly distributed and i’m going to take A little bit more soil and just mind up A little hell in the center of the pot So we mined up a little piece in the Middle here so whenever we put the tree On top it doesn’t leave an air pocket Under here and the roots in there will Dry out you want to think about how it’s Going to be positioned in the pot the Angle that it’s going to be at and where The front of the tree is like this Wouldn’t be a very good front because There’s a lot of branches coming Straight out and it doesn’t really show Off the trunk line of the tree but if i Were to rotate it round this is the Front that i’ve chosen here and you can
See the trunk line the whole way up here I’m happy with it there in the pot now When i’m happy with there i’m just going To fold the wires that i have here over The top of the root base Twist them Then the same on the other side of the Root base now you can’t really get the Wires super tight with your hands so i’m Going to grab a pair of pliers so the Trick here is to grab where you’ve made The turn and then pull up and then twist And this wire can then come off whenever The tree is fully secured and set itself In the pot put more soil in And you can work the soil in with a Chopstick just to make sure that all the Air pockets are filled and the tree is Happy the number one priority in bonsai Isn’t to make the tree look good or to Get it quickly developed as soon as you Can and putting the tree at risk the Number one priority in bonsai make sure The tree is healthy and doing well Everything else comes secondary to the Health of the tree because if the tree Dies you don’t have a bonsai anymore Okay so i’m happy with how this is Parted now so there’s a couple of ways We can approach this tree we can go at It with the wire in perspective and try And shape it that way but fuji cherry Are quite brittle for example if i take A piece of this young branch here
And bend it It snaps so perhaps wiring isn’t the Best method for a fuji cherry we could Clip it and then let it grow and that Way but there’ll also be movement from Each cut So i’m going to think about the overall Triangular shape of the bonsai if this Is the front How tall do i want the tree also i’m Thinking proportionally from the trunk About this About this height and it would look nice Anything else it’s too straggly so i Want to explain why i’m doing some of These cuts that i’m doing so as you can See here in this part of the tree it’s Very congested in this internode section Here there’s three branches coming out From the one area i’m going to take this Thickest branch here and have this as The leader of the tree and maybe remove Two of these let’s remove the metal one First and see what that does It opened it up a little bit more this Is the height i want the tree to be at Here so i’m going to cut it there Let’s see if we can spot any crossing Branches in bonsai you don’t really want To promote crossing branches so see and Here there’s branches growing and Towards the center of the tree i want to Get rid of them I’m not really sure about this little
Low branch here but i’m going to keep it For now now there’s a problem branch Right here i’m going to explain why this Branch is a problem because in bonsai The idea is to make the tree look like a Large tree in nature but in miniature Form so you want the trunk of the tree To be the thickest part of the tree and Then any other branches coming off from That they’re to be really thin this Branch coming off here is what we call a Branch that’s competing with the trunk Line and this is too thick to be in Proportion with the rest of the tree so This is going to be removed Okay That looks a lot better Now you have to be very careful with These fuji cherry branches because they Are quite brittle but i want to wire This branch that’s coming behind here And just have it come out slightly to The side there i feel like that looks Nicer so to wire again we’re going to do The two branch principle wire two Branches with one piece of wire so first We’re going to prepare the area there’s Like a little dead twig here and i don’t Want this little twig there so the Easiest way to wire a lot of people have Difficulty with wiring i feel like the Easiest way is to get the length first So it’s the length of this branch and Then push it right into the elbow in
Between the two branches and hold it There with your thumb and that will Provide sort of a temporary anchor until You actually get it anchored around the Branch trying to be very careful here Because these little blossoms are very Delicate i’m gonna come around this Other one here You want the wiring to be tight but not Too tight see the first style in the Cherry blossom especially if you do it As the buds are just opening you will Damage some of the blossoms and that’s Okay they’re not really in the final Design of the tree because you’ll get Blossoms every year all right that’s Wired let’s just see this is strong Enough to hold it i don’t think it will Be A little bit of flex on that so i’m Going to come on with a second piece of Wire Now we’ve got two pieces of wire on one Branch And that’s wired and anchored to this Branch Let’s see now Just bring that right ever so slightly And this branch i’m going to bring down Just slightly Just to give it a nicer shape Being very careful now not to snap these Branches because i am aware that they’re Very brittle wiggle as you go
And bend from joints with your thumb Very gently I’m happy with this it’s just a little Bit straggly around these ends here You’re going to take my branch cutters And cut now whenever you cut a fuji Cherry branch you want to cut just above A bud so i wouldn’t cut here and leave All of this i would cut if i was cut Into here i would leave just a little Bit at the end of a bud so i’m going to Cut it in this sort of shape Make it look like an older tree Not quite triangular but more Rind So this is everything that we’ve removed From the tree i’d say it’s a good 50 Of the tree i’ll just have to wait now For the rest of the blossoms to open and I can enjoy it thing about blossoms is They don’t really last that long but They’re so beautiful whenever they are Here the reason why i took so much off The top was firstly to give it a nice Shape but because i had removed so much Roots there probably wasn’t enough roots To facilitate everything that was going On up here so Now there’s a balance between the roots And the canopy of the tree [Music] [Music] So yeah that was this week’s video on How to bond site a fuji cherry if you
Guys liked it please leave a like down Below it really helps me out a lot and Subscribe if you’re new to notion bonsai And if you have any questions be sure to Leave them down below in the comments I’ll be sure to answer them i’ll see you Guys in the next one [Music] [Music] You
