Developing Ficus Bonsai with Pedro Morales

Authored by George Haas

On August 24, 2026, Pedro Morales joined me at my home for the afternoon to help with development of a large Ficus bonsai.

Pedro is a tropical bonsai expert from Puerto Rico. Pedro is one of the most influential tropical bonsai masters in the world, known especially for his work in Puerto Rico and across Latin America. Born 1961 in Chicago, he is a Puerto Rican bonsai artist, teacher, exhibitor, and founder of Futago Bonsai, one of the most important tropical bonsai schools in Latin America. His work is widely recognized for elevating tropical species to world class bonsai standards.

Ficus (Ficus retusa) is a species of evergreen woody plant in the Fig genus. The tree is native to Borneo, Java, and Peninsular Malaysia.

I acquired the tree in May 2007 from Steve Faulk’s demonstration hosted by the East Bay Bonsai Society. From looking at the base, it appears to have been three rooted specimens that fused together forming the single base. Steve purchased the tree in Miami, Florida. When alive, Steve loved working with tropical bonsai.

The first priority action taken was for Pedro and me to fully defoliate the bonsai tree. This allowed to really see the bonsai structure. He only then began to prune out unwanted branches. Once that was done, Pedro wired the primary, secondary and twig branches.

Pedro had taken photographs of the Ficus bonsai, depicting the front, left side, back, and right side. A day later, he provided edited photographs of the tree. In addition, Pedro Morales provided a future vision image he created using artificial intelligence Chatbot app. The future vision gives information on further development over a period of two years from now.

There are a number of bonsai related artificial intelligence apps under development. None are perfect, but the work continues. Using other AI app can achieve quite different results.

We are incredibly lucky to have many qualified bonsai instructors in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. They provide a variety of services, including development of bonsai and guidance of future growth expectations. However, it can be beneficial to see an image of the tree’s future. AI can allow for conventional styles, pot selection, and more.

Bring Your Own Tree Workshop

The Re-styling of John Naka’s California Juniper Bonsai

By George Haas

Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (BGLM) Item #146 California Juniper
Juniperus californica

Date of acquisition: 1999

Height: 45 inches

Style: Informal upright style

Donated by John Naka

History: This tree was collected in 1989 from the northwest end of the California Mojave Desert referred to as the Sand Canyon.

Mojave Desert: The arid region located in southeastern California with portions in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. The environment has little or no rain, too dry or barren to support much vegetation and hot climate. The climate experiences extreme variations in daily temperatures, frequent winter frosts and averages annual precipitation of two to six inches (50 to 150 mm). The Mojave has mountain-and-basin topography, and sparse vegetation which includes California juniper (Juniperus californica), creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), burroweed (Isocoma tenuisecta), and occasional cacti (mostly species of Cholla). Named after the Mojave people. The Mojave Desert occupies more than 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km).
[Source: Britannica]

John Naka is referred to as the father of North American bonsai for his efforts to promote the living art of bonsai throughout the U.S. He was present and spoke at the grand opening of the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, on November 6, 1999. Naka collected some extraordinary California junipers from the Mojave Desert for bonsai.

From time to time, all legacy bonsai trees such as this John Naka California juniper must undergo re-styling as they continue to grow and increase in foliage mass. BGLM volunteers Samuel Tan and Addison Galambos undertake the task of re-styling this iconic bonsai. It will take several days to clean, prune, wire, and shape the large California juniper.

*Figure* 1 *John Naka California juniper before re-styling (2023)*.

*Figure* *2 Samuel Tan and Addison Galambos undertake the task of re-styling the California juniper (January 2024*).

The tree’s life vein is cleaned to distinguish it from the deadwood. Bending old, large tree branches downward create an aging impression. The bending requires special bonsai artistry and techniques with the carving out the branch, wrapping raffia and copper wire around the branch and then applying downward moving pressure to position the branch just right. It will take time for the branch to set and become semi-permanent. Guy wires are also used to bring down smaller branches. Thick four gauge copper wire is used on interior branches. The pot is placed on wooden blocks to change the overall angle of the bonsai design during repotting. Lastly, smaller gauge copper wires are used to complete the detailed wiring of branch pads.