system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does bonsai tree cultivation work? What makes them appear like a perfectly scaled down regular tree?
gpt
Mostly, it's a matter of trimming the roots and branches of the tree in just the right way to keep it small. That, plus the small pot size, prevents the tree from growing as big as it would in the wild.

Additionally, the species of tree is often chosen to be one that has naturally small leaves or needles, so it helps with the sense of scale.

There's also various techniques to get the tree to have the specific shape the artist wants it to have, such as grafting a branch onto the tree or using wires or clamps to push/pull branches into growing in a certain direction.