A company in Poole asked us to give their beloved Bonsai Ficus Retusa some TLC last week, so I went and collected it from them.
Knowing that Christine, one of my recently retired (and much missed) employees, is a bonsai expert, I invited her back to perform the trickiest work for me. Payment was in the form of strong tea and a lemon slice from the garden centre's coffee shop (and I rewarded myself with a caramel slice for thinking of getting her to come in!).
We (well, she) removed it from its pot, cleaned all the tired old soil from it, then very cleverly tied it to the pot to make it more stable, and finally we replanted it in fresh bonsai compost, and it's now more or less ready to go.
Thanks Christine!