Preparing a Tree for Exhibit

The whole of bonsai is this: it is an art with its ultimate end in display. In other words, the whole point of bonsai is to display the tree. How can that best be done? What kind of setting actually shows a tree to its best advantage? And specifically, what do I need to do to make my tree look its best?

To best illustrate this, let's follow a tree through its preparation for exhibit. For those who have to know, this is not my personal tree, and this is the only work I have ever participated in on it. This massive Japanese black pine has been grown from a seedling cutting for bonsai. This is going to be its first public show. I removed all the old needles to thin the tree slightly, so it's not too dense. All hanging needles have been removed so that the bottom of each branch is a smooth plane, as have any discolored, brown, yellow, or broken needles. Now it's time to choose a display pot. This means we are going to repot the tree two days before the show, because unless we free up the roots, we cannot tell what will be the best pot for the tree.

We follow all the typical procedures for repotting. At top, we are raking the bottom of the root ball to free the roots and trim them short. In the photo above, we are combing the top and sides of to prepare the tree for exactly the right pot.

Above you can see the extent of the root work. This tree will remain in its show pot for the next year. Had the intent been to put the tree in a show pot and then remove it later, we would have removed far less root mass and repotted fully after the show. Notice the long roots (below) that still need to be reduced over time, and the guy wires attached to the wood screw driven between plates of bark. Boon has tied a long root to a lower one to move it into a more acceptable position. He is preparing to remove a portion of the long root to the left.

The student's assignment is to find several pots as candidates for the show pot. Here are the choices we provided:

This pot was deemed a bit small, too deep, and not masculine enough. The root pad is sitting on top of 2X4 lumber in the bottom of the pot.

The shape was pretty good, but we thought we could do better with the color. We much preferred a reddish pot with this tree.

We decided that this pot complemented the tree perfectly. Notice how shallow the pot is compared to the girth of the trunk. It actually increases the drama of the massive trunk and shari.

The nebari is improved every time it is worked on, if proper technique is used. Here it has been adjusted a little more, removing some more of the longer roots that will have to be reduced in the future anyway, simply to fit it into the pot. Notice how closely it fits. It will be tied securely into the pot with the wires visible in the photo.

Once the tree is securely in the pot and the soil incorporated with the roots, it is time to moss the tree. This is not done often enough in the U.S. If you ever have the opportunity to look at Kokofu books, you will notice that every pot has been carefully mossed. Selected mosses are collected and shaped to fit among the surface roots. If the moss is thin, leave your soil line closer to the rim of the pot, if the soil is thick, leave more room. When shaping the moss, be sure to cut with your scissors to bevel the sides of the soil and root clinging to the moss. This will cause the moss to mound up naturally when placed. Be careful not to put the pieces of moss too close together, as they will tend to push each other up. Small spaces can be filled with very fine dark top-dressing.

Before and after photos of moss being applied to a forest planting. Notice in the before photo, the New Zealand sphagnum moss that has been shredded and lightly placed over the soil. This helps keep moisture available for the moss and reduce the danger of air pockets drying it out. The end product is very neat and looks as if it had actually grown there. It is important to piece the moss carefully among the roots to give a natural appearance. The final top-dressing is fine particles of lava.

Just before the show, a soft brush should be used to clean dirt off the pot. Then the pot should be rubbed with walnut oil or canola oil, taking care not to make the pot too shiny. An easy way to apply this is to place walnut meats in the end of an old sock, tape the toe closed, then smash your nut sock with a hammer until it's all squishy. The oils will seep through, giving you a good applicator. After rubbing the pot with the oil, rub it again with a clean cloth to remove excess oil. Fingerprints should not show if the pot is touched.

Here you see the final product. Notice that even in the exhibit, the guy wire is visible. Of course it must be neat and properly attached. Although invisible in the photograph, every branch of this tree is wired. The important thing is that the wire is neatly and effectively done, and is unobtrusive. Very heavy wires and turnbuckles are unacceptable. After the show, remove the moss and replace with top dressing and sphagnum moss for deciduous trees, or black lava for conifers.

This is a bare bones description of the process of preparing a tree for exhibit. It does not touch on the extensive areas of accent plantings, stands, two- versus three-point displays, or many other areas of exhibiting trees.