Some sort of ficus

[benbonsai]

Okay no worries
Might give a snip tomorrow then

[Thymetraveller]

There's a lot of good advice here.
If I may throw some more into the ring.....
Repot so it sits higher.

If you are attached to its current pot, just lift it, add some gravel to the bottom and some more bonsai mix, then firm it in good, with the base of the tree visible at the rim.

But I reckon a shallower, more traditional bonsai pot would make the most of that nice fat base. Show it off! I think it will "feel" more like a bonsai if you do.

If you want a really special pot, have a look at some of the great Aussie potters produving beautiful containers. Plenty to be found here on the forum...
viewforum.php?f=45

I reckon that's a fine little tree you have there. It's up to you to help it be the best it can.

Enjoy!

[benbonsai]

The pot it's in is only temporary, I don't like it one bit haha
And thanks all for the input

[benbonsai]

Not much of a trim but i think it made a difference
Just going to let it grow and continue to prune

[benbonsai]

This guy has been doing a lot of growing and recently potted into proper pot (cheap pot).
Still needs a trim though

[Andreas]

nice tree

[benbonsai]

Thanks

[benbonsai]

Little bit of a trim today
Needs a little bit of wiring and some more refinement but getting there

[dansai]

Hey Ben,

It's looking good. Much better with some more foliage. One note about aerial roots you might want to consider. When arial roots hit the potting mix and start to thicken, the area above the attachment point will thicken and below may not. It appears this is already happening on the right side where the section between the trunk and where the arial root starts is thinner than the rest of the branch. This area will not increase in girth as the branch will get all its food through the arial root. The same will probably, if not already, happen on the left side. If it were mine, I would remove the 2 strong arial roots and allow the trunk to feed the tree. They are straight and vertical as opposed to the rest of the tree and take away from the movement you have.

Also you may want to consider removing some of the branches towards the top of the tree where there is many coming from close together. If you leave them all you will get swelling there that will be hard to correct in the future.

Good Luck

[benbonsai]

Hi dansai
Thanks for the input, I agree.
It's a shame because I really like the aerial roots.

[Bonsai_creations]

starting to look sweet mate.. enjoy.

I have a ficus from grandmother also worry about cutting back, i have done years ago to it but hard to cut back more just yet. I like it way it is,but then i would like it cut back too.hard choice to make.

[benbonsai]

Yeah I figured if I don't like how it looks later on when I'm more experienced I can always cut back. But if I do it now and do it wrong it's hard to fix.
Plus I don't mind how it looks at the moment.

[Bonsai_creations]

It looks good i say too, id pluck some of the larger leaves on top tho,let the light in for more shoots to start.
but really it yours,so do what you think looks right. try find some on google of the same type of base,And get some ideas, Always remember that some spend years cutting back over and over to get the right look. Get another one to keep you away from this one lol


I just put a few over rocks,carnt wait to wash soil away in a year,or less

[benbonsai]

Thanks since that last photo I have done some more trimming

Yeah I have plenty of other little projects to keep me busy haha

[benbonsai]

Did a defoliation today so I can work on the branches over the next couple days. Pretty happy with what's there.
Some wire and a cut back should do the trick