AusBonsai

Following Anthonys post about his Sandpaper Fig I thought I had better check up on mine. Has been hidden around the side of the house ,less trees for the good lady see: .This group was collected last year ,it was a layer with a few small shoots popping up. Cut the main branch of and planted the layer in a large pot loaded with Dynamic Lifter .Wired the first 25 cm and left them to do there own thing.

Cleaned them up today ,pleasantly surprised with the amount of growth. Will try and separate some of the trees in the future, a couple just a little to close. Still a little unsure about the height ,was originally planning on cutting just above the bends. However kind of like the tall look ,any thoughts out there ? Also would it be worth defoliating ?
Cheers John.

Figs are often misrepresented in my opinion. The norm seems to be to grow a fat squat block of a fig with branches radiating out. True some do look like this, but not as short branched and squat as often styled in my opinion.
Anyway.... coronata in particular is usually quite long and gangly in the wild, so if you choose to follow this path I would love to see your hand at this.

Again, it can be the whole weed/shrub interpretation philosophy. Generally we don't represent weeds or shrubs as just that, but rather a more aesthetically pleasing representation. But I'm just saying that I'd love to see figs grown with more variety in our styling, and not be scared to have taller and less tapered material.

I have a book called "From rainforest to bonsai" by Len Webber. He mentions "rainforest style" as a particular style that Aussie tropicals can be grown as. Tall and slender can look fabulous!

Here is a blog link for a ficus Benjamina I found googling last year. It is also tall, has taper but not the classic huge amount, and is quite tall. I love this tree and it looks far more natural to me than the fat sumo version, though they don’t look bad either, I prefer the one in the blog. I think yours is heading in the direction of this one. It’s off to a good start in my opinion.

https://adamaskwhy.com/2014/07/16/how-a ... benjamina/


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Hi John,

I reckon taller is the way to go for the reasons noted by others in this thread.

Beano - what a ripper link - thanks for sharing.

Also - check out this video below.-Some crud but also check out the forests at 20-30 seconds and 50-60 seconds may provide inspiration. Similarly 2.10-2.20 and 2.50-3.00 minutes. And for nothing else but wow - check out the tree at 1.10! I love it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-7gTtUIFd94


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Well done John they all look nice and healthy, as for height go with your instinct, your natives are fantastic to look at, your eye will tell you, ...haha got out that one.

you more than probably know, but for others it back buds on old wood easily and by just removing the big leaf that presents here and there just remove and it comes down in size quite well over little time.

Look forward to your forest and if taking any out, I have marked one looks quite good lol,does nt look familiar much

Cause they grow short..er and radiate especially in my pots ...here we go again my my...dear O dear.
Excuse the training pot

As always thanks for the feedback. Have decided to keep the present height ,wired some movement into the straight sections and now will wait to see what mother nature will grant me.
Rory ,I love your way of thinking.
Mel ,Have Len Webbers book and had a quick re read. A man with great vision.
Beano ,great link .I think he is on the money . I have a couple myself and they make great root over rock.
Mark ,I think you are the cause of all these the Forrest style bonsais popping up..

Anthony ,Thanks for your insight. I like to sit on the fence regarding styles. Sometimes I fall down one side ,sometimes the other. Will admit I am a big fan of those thumpers you post and here are a couple of my little fellows. Lost a a lot to Mosaic Virus so these ones are pretty lucky. Also a Sandy in training.
Cheers John.
P.S. After looking at photos i have rewired the big branch of the fig in the blue pot. Amazing what photos show.

Very nice John you have got some punch in those beauties.

cheers Anthony