There are thousands of variety of fig around the world and all the varieties that I know of are great for growing as bonsai. Although this is about how to bonsai a fig, the principles can work for a wide range of trees.

Fig as Bonsai.

With any plant that works well as bonsai, they usually have very similar traits.

• Grow well in the climate you live in

• Can be easily struck from cutting

• Will bounce back from over watering or under watering if identified in time.

• Are fast growing to enable a thick trunk and powerful root development

• Shoot new growth back on old wood

• Seem to thrive when pruned harshly

• Leaf size reduces over time

Trees with these traits are perfect for the beginner as they almost grow themselves, while over the time you learn the other skills necessary produce a quality tree.

Choosing a Tree.

If you are growing a tree from cutting then you want to plant it in the largest pot you have to begin with to allow the roots to grow freely, and as fast as they can to produce a thick trunk and strong base roots, (most large quality bonsai are grown in the ground for a number of years before being trained as bonsai).

If you have a tree that already has a good root system and a thick trunk, it can be cut down to size and potted ready for training.

Choose a Style.

If you can choose one of the 5 basic styles of Japanese bonsai to follow as a guide, this will help to give you direction as to how your tree should look over time.

The easiest and most common of these is the informal upright style.

To follow this style the overall height of you tree will be around 6 times the width of your trunk at the base, your first branch will be around a third to a quarter of the way up the overall height, and the overall shape of the branches when viewed from the front is triangular.

This should give you an indication of what you can remove from the top of the plant, what branches can be removed that are below the first branch, and trim the remaining branches to a triangular shape.

Pruning and Wiring to Shape.

You want the branches to be growing at an angle just below horizontal from the trunk, so these may need to be wired in place to achieve this.

Prune any foliage that is growing directly down from underneath a branch, and any that is growing directly upwards from your branches, to allow light and air between them.

Light and Water.

Your tree now needs lots of natural light and watered to the point that the soil is just moist the majority of the time.

Feeding a fig every fortnight during the growing season will keep the plant healthy and allow it to reach its potential as quickly as possible.

How to bonsai a Fig.

This is the basic idea of how to bonsai a fig or other plant material.

• Choose good material to begin with, or from cutting grown for several years in a large pot or in the ground.

• Choose one of the basic styles to follow.

• Cut back prune and wire to the guidelines of that style.

• Keep watered, in natural light and fertilize regularly.

• Prune back to a rectangular shape for a natural compact shaped tree.

True Bonsai

True bonsai take many years to refine and mature into quality trees.

Figs are one of the most forgiving varieties of tree I know, they are a perfect tree for the beginner to learn on, and a perfect introduction for learning how to bonsai.

In most cases if it doesn’t look right, you can usually prune them back to almost nothing but the trunk, and start all over again.