Ficus Benjamina help and advice

[patina]

Assistance please.
Looking for some inspiration for this sad fig how and when should I cut it back.
I would almost like to lower the canopy and possibly loose one trunk.
I am new to this despite owning bonsai for a few years I am only now getting into the actual art of bonsai.
It has quite a bit of scaring, I got this tree as is any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
Kind regards
Julian

[Bougy Fan]

G'Day Julian ! Not sure how cold it gets down there - I would leave it until Spring before doing much major surgery. I would keep the twin trunks for now and cut back the height by at least one third. Feed it up with some chook poo and see where it buds

[patina]

Thanks Tony,
It's getting down to about 18-20. I think it might be bit cold
And it doesn't seem as though it is at its best at the moment so I think I will give it some chook poo and wait. How would you cut the trunks at an angle or straight.

Thanks again
Julian

[Bougy Fan]

Don't feed it yet - waste of time in winter when it doesn't grow. Give it some Seasol if you think it needs perking up. I would select a new leader if one is available and and cut back on an angle behind it. You may want to leave some foliage on it and not chop it off without any left on it. Benjis don't always like being totally defoliated.

[patina]

Do you think its to late to air layer the top section?

[kcpoole]

I woud be waiting till spring to put a layer on now.

When you cut back, just cut it flat and then wait intil you get a new shoot to use as a leader. Wire that one up and then cut back the trunk to the new leader with a slanting cut away from the front of the tree.

Ken

[chrisatrocky]

Benji figs can be a bit tricky when it comes to budding back. If you cut of a trunk below all existing foliage it may only bud back in 1 or 2 clusters or only from the base of the tree. In some cultivars they will bud back, spread over the trunk. I dont see any lower foliage on either of the trunks you can cut back to. so best of luck because you do need to reduce the height to a third to make a beleivable bonsai.

chris

[patina]

Should I look at grafting some of the top of the tree on lower parts of the two trunks? It doesn't look as though it has any potential growth on the lower 2/3 of the trunks. I am not sure if the person I got this from removed anything. It looks like it has had a bit of a rough life... Note the large scares! I don't expect there to be an instant fix but I would like to see If I can turn this benji into something nice.

[Bougy Fan]

Don't worry about grafting yet it will bud back eventually but not always in the right place I would get it healty first and maybe cut back hard in Spring first. Cutting back hard can prompt budding and then you may have something to work with. Down the track you may need to consider thread grafting to get some branches in the right places. I waited 2 years for a bud to come in the right place on one of my benji's before I threadgrafted a branch where I needed it.