Returned to Ficus Bonsai after a difficult first attempt

My first attempt at Ficus Bonsai failed — root bound decline from leaving in the same pot too long got hold of it and I didn't know what I was looking at until it was too late. I left it alone for a year before trying again.

The second attempt, with proper attention to repotting every two to three years with root pruning, has been completely different. It's now thriving in a Japanese-inspired garden display with gravel and stone and seasonal change including blossom, foliage colour, and bare winter silhouette is on full display. repotting temperate species in early spring before buds break this year was a genuine reward for starting again. If you failed first time, the plant isn't the problem — the conditions probably were.