California pepper yamadori

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have no hands on experience with this species, but given my experience with Ficus, Taxodium (bald cypress), elms and other species, I would think you would have no problem removing the trunk from the pot, then saw the bottom flat, leaving only a fringe of roots around the outer edge. Do this in your "late winter" just before the normal burst of spring growth. Most "off the shelf" bonsai pots are less than 4 inches in inside depth. You should saw enough off the bottom that the tree could be potted into a shallow, 4 inch deep or less, but wide pot. I use Anderson flats for training, 16 x 16 x 5 inches inside dimensions. I usually only fill to the 4 inch mark. The bottom is a mesh, with roughly 3/16 inch holes. The Anderson flat holds about 3 gallons of potting media. (give or take).

If you don't flatten out the root system, you will be forced into purchasing custom made pottery, or going outside the usual bonsai pottery and into "garden design" containers, which often are not as subtle or as elegantly designed as traditional bonsai pottery.

Like acacia, Brazilian rain tress and other species with compound leaves, the leaves can be a problem with creating a bonsai, but not necessarily a complete obstacle. The compound leaflet can be a "stand in" for an entire small branch in the design. You will have to see how it works. Worst case, some will go through and prune leaves by cutting them back to just a pair or two leaflets. I've seen this done to good effect. Might not be necessary, but might be a help if foliage is too disheveled looking with full size leaves.

 

[Hbhaska]

I have no hands on experience with this species, but given my experience with Ficus, Taxodium (bald cypress), elms and other species, I would think you would have no problem removing the trunk from the pot, then saw the bottom flat, leaving only a fringe of roots around the outer edge. Do this in your "late winter" just before the normal burst of spring growth. Most "off the shelf" bonsai pots are less than 4 inches in inside depth. You should saw enough off the bottom that the tree could be potted into a shallow, 4 inch deep or less, but wide pot. I use Anderson flats for training, 16 x 16 x 5 inches inside dimensions. I usually only fill to the 4 inch mark. The bottom is a mesh, with roughly 3/16 inch holes. The Anderson flat holds about 3 gallons of potting media. (give or take).

If you don't flatten out the root system, you will be forced into purchasing custom made pottery, or going outside the usual bonsai pottery and into "garden design" containers, which often are not as subtle or as elegantly designed as traditional bonsai pottery.

Like acacia, Brazilian rain tress and other species with compound leaves, the leaves can be a problem with creating a bonsai, but not necessarily a complete obstacle. The compound leaflet can be a "stand in" for an entire small branch in the design. You will have to see how it works. Worst case, some will go through and prune leaves by cutting them back to just a pair or two leaflets. I've seen this done to good effect. Might not be necessary, but might be a help if foliage is too disheveled looking with full size leaves.

Thank you, Leo for this thoughtful and thorough reply. It makes so much sense. I will leave an outer 'fringe' of roots near the top and saw off the bottom to fit it into a suitable container. I've been meaning to get rid of the clay soil that it came with during collection. Not sure if I will completely get rid of that during repotting but I think its time for that anyway, come spring. This is a very hardy species and thrives in southern California and so I expect it to rebound after spring repotting.

That is an interesting take on bonsai with compound leaves - cutting the leaf to just two leaflets. I think I have seen that online and now it makes sense why people do that. Personally, I think the compound leaves are beautiful as is. What I'm thinking of is letting the top branches grow out and thicken for a few years (after wiring and shaping). Then I'm hoping the leaves will naturally fall as in case of a fully grown tree as in the pictures enclosed.

Once again, thank you!