Let us start off with my favorite picture of the day.  This pulley system creates an illusion of a levitating tree!  We will get to the process later on.

On a Sunday morning, volunteers gathered at MBP Bonsai Studio to help repot two big ficus, assist in trimming and maintain the rest of our TTSBE collection trees.

We noticed that the leaves on our Cedar Elm forest were very yellow and a closer examination led us to believe that it could be infected by fungal spores.

We found fungal spores on some leaves.

As we figure out our next step, another shade cloth was put up to protect the Cedar Elm forest from the harsh summer sun.

Here you can see a volunteer measuring the tree to see how much we need to trim off for it to fit through our green house door when winter comes along.

Once we knew the dimensions, volunteers trim away.

Working on a Ficus salicifolia donated by the Pipitone family.

Look at these tiny figs!!

A Ficus microcarpa also donated by the Pipitone family.

Now you get to see how we repot bigger trees.

All strapped in and ready to go.

The pot was removed and roots were trimmed.

Bottom view.

It was a hot sunny day, so we made sure to spray plenty of water to keep the roots moist.

Back to the levitating tree picture.

The pot was cleaned and drain holes were prepared.

The pot, now filled with some bonsai soil, was then moved underneath the tree.

The pot was raised to meet the tree and the straps were removed.

This is how we tied the tree to its pot without damaging the roots on top.

The tree was moved back to its stand and more soil was added.

Moving our next tree to the repotting area. 

We took this ficus out of the wooden box and will need to trim the roots further for it to fit into a bonsai pot.

View of the roots.

There are still thick mud stuck between the roots so we used some water to wash it away.

Preparing the pot for the tree and further reducing the roots.

Looking more like a bonsai.

These are just a few of our dedicated volunteers that happened to be around for me to get a picture.  We have more volunteers around the corner still working hard.

Back on its stand.

More soil added.

Watering well before leaving.

If you have been following our TTSBE blog, you might notice that we always manage to come upon an insect of some sort during our foster days.  Let me leave you with a picture of two earth worms this time.