All bonsai begin their development in training pots, where they stay until they have a good, fibrous root system and relatively full foliage development which make them look like bonsai rather than just a shrub or tree in a pot. Training pots help trees grown for bonsai make the transition between a deep nursery container, a balled and burlapped root system, or landscape, to the shallow confinement of a bonsai pot.
Above all, resist the urge to collect (dig) a tree and put it directly into a bonsai pot, where its chances of survival are slight. The best sort of training pot is often a large-diameter nursery container with good drainage holes, and with its top cut off to a depth of eight to 10 inches. During its time in a training pot, the tree should be grown in coarse, fast-draining soil. Traditional bonsai pots, available at bonsai nurseries, and some large nurseries and import stores, are round, oval, square, rectangular or hexagonal. Some are unglazed on the exterior (traditional for evergreens) and some are glazed and are suitable for most types of trees, as long as the pot
complements but does not compete with the tree. Pots for cascade, semi-cascade and flowering bonsai are deeper than others.
All bonsai pots have large drainage holes, which are essential for the rapid drainage that promotes root health, but which must be covered with screening on the inside bottom of the pot to prevent coarse soil from washing away with draining water. Bonsai containers should be unglazed on their inside walls, and on the bottoms, both inside and out.
Before repotting, familiarize yourself with the proper time of year to repot specific types of trees. For example, junipers can be repotted at any time during the growing season because they grow throughout it. Pines and most other evergreens must be repotted during the late winter before they show signs of new growth. Most deciduous trees should be repotted before they leaf out in very early spring. A bonsai that is ready for a bonsai pot should not be transplanted into it until all foliage work (pruning, wiring, pinching) has been completed. This precaution
prevents the tree’s newly placed roots from being dislodged. At the time of “potting up,” turn the bonsai container so that its front side (essentially the same for all shapes except rectangular, in which case only one of the two long sides should be the front) is toward you roughly at eye-level. Hold the tree with its front view toward you and place the base of the trunk very slightly off-center to the opposite side from which the dominant visual weight of its branches occurs.
In other words, if most branches occur on the left when viewing the tree from the front, place the base of the trunk
Keeping your collection of bonsai trees on a stand makes them easier to work with and to see, and gives protection from extremes of weather.
slightly off-center to the right. This maintains the asymmetrical balance that is the basis of Japanese design. Comb out the roots, pruning back (shortening) those that have become wiry or stiff deep in the soil. Keep, but trim, fibrous roots and spread them out inside the container. Add coarse porous soil such as Turface (a soil amendment), or “soilless soil,” which can be purchased at large landscape supply businesses. Water the tree thoroughly and keep it in a dry protected place for the next few days. Check it for soil moisture daily, but do not water it until the soil on top begins to feel a bit dry.
In the tokonoma, bonsai are displayed on stands accompanied by a wall hanging or painting and a viewing stone or “accompanying plant” on the floor. In this setting, the painting represents “god” or the “life energy”, the stone or accompanying plant represent the earth or nature, and the bonsai itself represents man.
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