Ficus: An Indoor Bonsai

Before the Web totally leveled the informational playing field, we used to get people at our bonsai shows that wanted to keep a bonsai indoors on the coffee table or on top of the television set (this was back before flat TV's). These days everyone seems to know that the best place for your bonsai is on your back patio, but for those who want a stunning centerpiece for the conservatory, here it is. This ficus benjamina thickened up in a flowerpot on someone's patio for nearly thirty years before I bought it as an old patio tree on its last legs, growing in depleted soil. Over a year I cut it back from its original four foot height, and took off two other upper trunks. I kept it in an oversized oval bonsai pot during that time, in good soil with lots of fertilizer. Earlier this spring, I cut back the roots and put it in its present pot. This is the result.

Ficus trees work well as bonsais, and are very good for beginners because they are easy to care for, and they develop rapidly, so there is no need to wait for results the way there is with a pine or juniper.