Ficus Benjamina 'Shorty'

Neli · Post by **Neli** » June 14th, 2013, 6:05 pm

Very inspiring little fellow!
Shame about the roots going to the pond. I will have a heart attack if it happened to my pond.

NathanM · Post by **NathanM** » July 1st, 2013, 5:07 pm

Nice little benji, Steven

Paulneill · Post by **Paulneill** » July 1st, 2013, 10:06 pm

Nice little tree Steven . Have you tried fully defoliating a benji ? Just curious as I have heard different views on the subject and have a large promising benji needs cutting back hard .

Tony H · Post by **Tony H** » July 5th, 2013, 7:16 pm

Post by **Steven** » October 23rd, 2013, 8:45 am

Bit of a trim last night for Shorty. Foliage is starting to fill out nicely. It's come a long way since the first branch selection a little over 12 months ago.

2013 September (a).JPG

I'm finding it is very apical dominant so I'll have to constantly trim the apex to let the bottom branches fill out some more. I agree with Tony's earlier comments that it needs to be tilted slightly to the right and I'll do that at the next repot.
It's now 22cm tall and I think this will be the height it will stay at.

Regards,
Steven

Rory · Post by **Rory** » October 23rd, 2013, 12:29 pm

Yes, that is looking beautiful. Makes my shorty look short and tiny.

Neli · Post by **Neli** » October 23rd, 2013, 10:03 pm

Shorty,is looking good! Nice work Steven!

Post by **Steven** » April 23rd, 2014, 7:12 am

G'day,

Gave this Benji a tweak recently. Changed the direction, thinned out the apex and rewired a few branches. Next Spring I think I'll do some work to the roots to improve the base. Maybe layer it slightly above the height of the soil level?
The Anemone in my garden were looking particularly good so I used them as a background

2014 April (a).JPG

Regards,
Steven

Ash · Post by **Ash** » April 23rd, 2014, 10:17 am

Hi Steven, It is improving nicely. I don't think you would need to layer it, just prune the roots from below and gradually over a couple of potting seasons you could get it down. I think that is you grafter a root into that gap (or encouraged the small root that is there), the 'bridged' look would be less and the roots would look great just how they are. Figs have big root bases in nature, especially Ficus benjamina. Ash

Jerry Meislik · Post by **Jerry Meislik** » April 23rd, 2014, 11:18 am

Very nice looking benj, Steven.
Jerry

Neli · Post by **Neli** » April 23rd, 2014, 1:57 pm

I would not touch the roots...It gives it a character...what I see is good. You can try grafting some roots or lower it a bit over time. You can try the tooth pick method and put some moss. The roots give nice taper. Very nice tree.

Post by **Steven** » April 23rd, 2014, 4:51 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not intending on removing the current roots, just slicing them off horizontally and hopefully getting a better (more even) spread while still maintaining the character and width.

Regards,
Steven

raewynk · Post by **raewynk** » April 23rd, 2014, 5:53 pm

Nice one Steven,

I myself prefer the branches level each side with the bigger leaf variety of the bonsai, gives a well balanced look and feel.

The trunk looks solid as a rock.

I like it.

P.s. I had one in the courtyard had to be removed because of rogue roots. Ouch

Regards
Rae

Isitangus · Post by **Isitangus** » April 23rd, 2014, 8:19 pm

Hi Steve this had to be one of the nicer benji's I've seen. I get what you mean about the ground layer for the roots. Can't hurt!!!

thoglette · Post by **thoglette** » April 24th, 2014, 8:23 am

Paulneill wrote:ave you tried fully defoliating a benji ?

It can be done - I have- but it runs the risk of branches refusing to bud. I've going to have to regrow one branch on mine.

If you can keep even one green shoot you're going to be in a better place than cutting back to "white" wood.

AusBonsai

Ficus Benjamina 'Shorty'

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