Which direction do I go?

[EastsideBonsaidude]

Hey guys

I purchased a small tiger bark a few years ago and placed it into a large pot to grow it out. The trunk definitely has thickened and I’m currently happy with it.

When purchased, I was given advice to keep the lower branch and to use that as the leader and then when ready chop the rest off. Well I’m ready but had a few questions;

1: Can I chop it now or should I wait till later in the year - August?
2: One idea I had was to cut about 10 cm above the lower branch and then turn that trunk section above into dead wood - some type of feature. Although, I’m unsure how to do that but thought it would be pretty cool. Maybe I could then train the leader to wrap around the dead trunk...
3: Second idea would be to chop the trunk just above the lower branch and that’s that. Care for the wound and train the new leader.

Any pointers would be appreciated.


Thanks in advance.

Mark

[juan73870]

Being in QLD, I can't see any issues with chopping now and following with your option number 3. I might be wrong, but I've chopped similar ficus at any time of the year and I'm down in Adelaide.

[shibui]

You can keep some of the trunk for dead wood but ficus wood is very soft and rots real quick so I doubt that you'll have it there for more than a couple of years.
Part of bonsai is to represent trees in nature. Because fig wood does not last and they are from tropical areas we rarely see them with dead trunks or branches so dead wood probably does not really fit into the nature of figs. Personally I would just cut the sacrifice trunk off adn try to promote it to heal over.

[EastsideBonsaidude]

Thanks for the response guys.

Looks like I’m getting the saw out and giving this girl a trim!

I did see a thread on here regarding the best way to cut such a branch that it heals over better and more natural looking.

Wish me luck haha.

[treeman]

I can see a nice slender twin trunk literati type tree without to much interference to the trunks.
All you need is very slight movement in the tall part.

http://bonsaibark.com/wp-content/uploads/lit11-1.jpg

[treeman]

I can see a nice slender twin trunk literati type tree without too much interference to the trunks.
All you need is very slight movement in the tall part.

http://bonsaibark.com/wp-content/uploads/lit11-1.jpg

[Raging Bull]

Hi Eastside,
I'm on the Gold Coast, so very similar climate to Wynnum. There should be no problem trunk chopping this time of the year, but don't expect much growth until spring. I've pruned several of my ficus in the last few weeks and they are very slow to respond with growth this time of the year. In spring and summer you can almost sit there and watch them grow after pruning.

[EastsideBonsaidude]

I can see a nice slender twin trunk literati type tree without too much interference to the trunks.
All you need is very slight movement in the tall part.

Mate, I’ve already done the chop - will post an image - but wonder if a two trunk style may work as I cut it back kinda high.

I’d need to really bend the lower leader out away from the tree.....

[EastsideBonsaidude]

Hi Eastside,
I'm on the Gold Coast, so very similar climate to Wynnum. There should be no problem trunk chopping this time of the year, but don't expect much growth until spring. I've pruned several of my ficus in the last few weeks and they are very slow to respond with growth this time of the year. In spring and summer you can almost sit there and watch them grow after pruning.

Thanks mate.