Moreton Bay Fig Possible Carving candidate

[rudy]

HI,

I have this moreton bay fig that i borrowed from my brother in law in the hope of turning it into something. It's 15cm high and 7 across with no taper and a bulge at the top. It originally had 5 leaders all coming out of the sides of the top so i cut them all off to start again.
I was thinking it would be a good canditate for carving. I'm trying to determine what to chose as a new leader or two. Am i right on the styling potential or should i go another direction. I'm kind of lost as I don't have an artistic bone in my body but love bonsai.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Rudy

[Leigh Taafe]

Nice fat base! Pick a leader and grow some taper into him. A little carving might also help to achieve some taper. I wouldnt carve to create dead wood on the tree as it will be too brittle as it dries out and will just crumble away.

[kcpoole]

Maybe pick the strong shoot closest to the bottle in the last shot.

or just let them all grow till they get some size then pick

Ken

[AnneK]

Come on Ken! Whatever happened to the diagonal crop to give taper and the selection of one leader? As already suggested the one nearest the bottle will do, two years down the track you'll wonder why you bothered to ask.

Regs, AnneK

[rudy]

Thanks for the advice.
I was also wondering about a diagonal chop keeping the leader closest to the bottle but an concerned about that bulge.
What about a low V chop with two leaders eliminating that buldge.

[Ash]

Growing several 'leaders' and a banyan shaped crown will probably work well with this one. I would let them grow until they start to harden before I chose which ones I wanted. I also wouldn't do the chop until the shoots were a bit more mature.

I am not a fan of carving in figs- the dead wood does not last all that well.

cheers
Ash

[Tony Bebb]

Hi Rudy

This fig should not be carved or angle cut yet. It is in a nice big styro and that is good. It should be fed well and left to grow untill a leader presents itself. Making an angled cut at this stage will weaken the top and may result in the death od whatever is chosen. Leaving everything grow untill strength is achieved will lead to a better result and give some choices to what is the strongest part of the growth.

When strength is achieved you are then free to make a selection for the new apex and then when that is achieving taper you can improve the taper with the angled cut.

Nice base to work with and the potential is limit-less with patience.

Best Regards

Tony

[kcpoole]

Come on Ken! Whatever happened to the diagonal crop to give taper and the selection of one leader? As already suggested the one nearest the bottle will do, two years down the track you'll wonder why you bothered to ask.

Regs, AnneK

I agree that a diagonal chop is the way to go to get taper, But I like to wait till i confirm the correct leader first

I have seen many give a tree the big old chop on a diag, but then to only find that the roots look horrible from that side, or that it does not shoot just the right place.

Ken

[rudy]

Guys thanks for the responses.

All very sound advice. I'll let it grow on (I'll give it back to my brother in law for that) to strengthen and grow material to see how it pans out and make a decision in the future.

Thanks again for the advice.
Rudy