AusBonsai

This ficus came into my possession as a raffle tree 4-5 years ago. At the time it wasnt anything promising just average ficus stock. in order to improve the base it was flat cut and planted back out as a cutting. after a few years of care and pruning i came up with a workable structure. the strong shoots were cut back to 2-3 nodes and the secondary and tertiary branches wired out. the angle was changed slightly and will probably be slip potted to harmonise the new angle with the pot. not sure if this pot is the best for the tree though so i may need to find another one on the future. still has a fare way to go but im very happy with its progress so far

to see a more detailed progression visit http://bonsaievolution.wordpress.com/20 ... yite-tree/

Hugh

Thanks for posting once again Hugh.

Always a good read with some great quality tree's.
I really wished you had photo's and more detail of the in between flat cut step..

Questions..

Did you remove most of the foliage when you did this?
What time of year did you do this work?
Is there any additional detail you might add?

Thanks,

Boics wrote:Thanks for posting once again Hugh.

Always a good read with some great quality tree's.
I really wished you had photo's and more detail of the in between flat cut step..

Questions..

Did you remove most of the foliage when you did this?
What time of year did you do this work?
Is there any additional detail you might add?

Thanks,

thanks boics for your feedback mate, its what i like to hear
those were my thoughts exactly photo wise, im working on taking more pictures as i work on my trees, just sometimes it dosnt seem to happen plus when i did all the structural work was a few years back and i wasnt really into taking pics then. ill be sure to do it on the future.

actually to tell you the truth i didnt remove any foliage when i flat cut it. it responded very well as i did it in December when the weather was nice and roots began to grow within 2 weeks of the treatment. the base was wrapped in sphagnum moss much like an air layer and then filled in with soil around that in a pot. a year later it was bare rooted the moss removed and the roots chosen and spread apart. then left to grow in its present pot. the root system still isnt to my fancy and needs more work hence why i still have it covered for now. Hugh

I didnt think of it before but this tree would have been a good candidate for the Australian native competition! oh well next year!

Anyway this tree is due for an update, its changed a far amount in the year.

The work done here in this update was done exactly 1 year ago in March 2014. It was done in preparation for the Central Coast bonsai exhibition in which was to be the very next day after it was planted on the stone!
details in the photos....

The next day the tree brought into the exhibition area for the weekend show.
I will mention as well the rock is iron stone and is extremely heavy! its at least a 2 man job to carry it, well just, its that heavy!!!

7 months later the tree was exhibited again in my Exhibition 'Botanica' with fellow artist Alysha Fewster.
It was an awkward gallery to get into with the tree, up a ramp through to the very back of the gallery, up a some narrow steps through a small door, and then at the back of the exhibition space. Couldnt have been any further from the car really. All while the tree was carried a few metres at a time due to its immense weight, glad it only had to come in and out once!

Looks great on that rock, Hugh. Very nice composition.

Beautiful. I can only pray my Ficus will look even half as good.

Love the tree but I think it becomes a litle lost or less powerful on that huge rock. But I appreciate the concept.

By applying Spaghnum moss - does that keep the soil moist and is it effect during summer if you go away for 1 week or so?

xIIRevoEvoS wrote:By applying Spaghnum moss - does that keep the soil moist and is it effect during summer if you go away for 1 week or so?

I know of nothing that will keep trees in pots alive for a week without watering.
2 - 3 days will kill many.

A good reliable watering system, and someone to monitor it is working.

Ken

awesome tree love the look of it on the rock nice work looked good in the show 2

Thankyou for all the kind comments everybody!

xIIRevoEvoS wrote:By applying Spaghnum moss - does that keep the soil moist and is it effect during summer if you go away for 1 week or so?

The spag moss enables better rootage and adherence to the new environment for moss that i planted on top. I used substrate (diatmote and zeolite) as the medium in which the tree grows. SO this, especially on the stone, can be difficult to get moss to settle in, the spag moss aids in this. I will mention it is chopped very finely and then passed through a 5mm sieve so it is not lumpy and creates a finer mat for the settlement of the moss to take place.

It does help to hold a little extra moisture in but nothing that could allow the tree to sit for a week without water. This tree is watered 2-3 times a day in Summer and 1 once a day the rest of the year.

hugh grant wrote:I didnt think of it before but this tree would have been a good candidate for the Australian native competition! oh well next year!

Anyway this tree is due for an update, its changed a far amount in the year.

The work done here in this update was done exactly 1 year ago in March 2014. It was done in preparation for the Central Coast bonsai exhibition in which was to be the very next day after it was planted on the stone!
details in the photos....

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That’s a great looking bonsai, may I ask what is in your muck and substrate? Do you use a totally different mix for sticking a bonsai to a rock? Total newb here but i’d Like to give it a go one day.

I saw Ryan Neil used long strands of wet sphagnum instead of muck in his latest slab planting.... says it doesn't crack like the clay in muck, and does everything else better than muck. He ties some wire around it initially to help it settle, but once his moss has grown, the wire can come off...