bad branch location on a bonsai-Ficus

What do you do when you have a massive trunk but the branches are not in the

right place?  If you are talking about a Ficus then make it bald. That's right cut off

all the branches. Do not leave anything.

This sounds like harsh treatment, but desperate times call for desperate measures. One

day I was out collecting Ficus from where I work which happens to have a lot of pine

trees. In those pine trees, little birds deposit ficus seeds and they grow. They can get

pretty big if the landscape people do not get to them. So, one day I found a really big

tree that was as thick as my forearm, I'm not a small guy. The problem was that all the

branches were growing from one side. The side that was facing the tree had no branches. The ramification looked very bad. But the trunk was thick and one

of the hardest things to do because it takes a lot of patience is to thicken a trunk.

I tried growing it out for a while. But had no success because all the smaller branches started growing from all the bad branches. It only had bad branches, to begin with. I didn't want to throw this tree away I had collected it made it into a cutting and it was growing. It would be a

waste to throw this tree away, so I chopped off all the branches.

I had noticed when I cut the branches from another Ficus that they would sprout out

new smaller branches all over. I also noticed that if I left a longer nub of a bad branch

there would be new growth there. That would be bad as those branches would also grow

in a bad spot. So, how could I make branches grow in good spots? The only way was by

removing every branch and not leaving long nubs.

At first, I saw no new growth, and yes I was scared that I might have killed the tree.

That's always in the back of your mind. But one day I saw little buds coming out from the

tippy top of the tree which is great because I don't want branches growing just anywhere

on the tree. They all started to grow where I wanted them to.

Not only were they growing where I wanted them to, but they were growing in large

quantities. So many that I had to cut some of them off because I knew that the tree really didn't need that many branches.

I left just enough branches so that they were in a good position, and they would have

room to grow. I wired the lower branches just to give him some shape these are going

to be my longer branches. I'm not going to prune these for a long time. In fact, I'm not going

to prune any branches until some of them get to be as thick as a pencil. The reason

I will not prune them now is that that will slow down the growth.

.As you can see growth is fantastic. I want those branches to grow, grow, grow.

Bonsai 101: Fixing to much exposed roots

Hello, bonsaiaphiles. What are your solutions to major bonsai problems?
I had a Japanese boxwood that I found in a nursery. It was old and tucked away where only a bonsai enthusiast dares to go. You know what I’m talking about.
There was this JBW (Japanese boxwood) that had a lot of potential. However, over the
years watering it had washed away the top layer of soil exposing the roots.
I did not mind it so much. It even in my humble opinion looked nice.
It was in a 5-gallon pot. I worked on it for two years getting the roots short enough to pot in a shallow pot. The branches and leaves were looking nice.

The elephant in the room was the roots:

This is what everything looks like together:

Is this the best tree in the world? Of course not, but I love it.  I always thought that putting
a rock in there would be the best idea. I would need to find a rock that would first, fit in there.
Second, that looked natural and not forced. I stumbled upon this rock in my garden:

I removed a little bit more dirt. Then I started to wedge the rock in the space between the roots.
I did not want to force it and break the roots.

Here is what the whole thing looks like after:

It almost looks like they belong together. I would like it to slide a little more in. Ill tap it with this small hammer.

See how the rock curves up mimicking the trunk? That is a very good part of the design.

That's what I did. It came out pretty good if I do say so myself. There is a sense of satisfaction in solving these issues.

Do you have any similar experiences?