AusBonsai

Hi,

Dad recently gave me his fig, we believe it to be a ficus benjamina. It's about 20 years old, dad has basically just done the clip and grow method.

I've heard benji's can be a bit tricky so I'm not sure what to do to continue its development. It's not a perfect tree but it's one of my best and I don't want to kill it accidentally, whereas all my other trees are experiments, this one is a bit more important to me.

Just wanted people's opinions (including extreme ones) on what could be done to improve it without destroying it.

Looks like you have great nebari and a good trunk. I personally don't like the left branch and if it was my tree I would take that off and all the rest of the branches off as well and start again with the right hand trunk only. Would have a nice formal upright in a few years. But that just my opinion, I'm sure there is plenty of others [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]


Cheers dwayne
I'm a bonsai newb

Your tree has a very good trunk/nebari for this material,generally I don't see them this good,now that left hand branch that Dwayne wants to chop off is a big nono,you chop that branch off your tree has lost all its integrity,my rough sketches will explain,the only thing is it looks a bit busy where those four branches come out at the top,maybe you need to remove one,the pic will hopefully explain that, the other alternate to that branch is trade Branch 4 for Branch 6 if you think Branches 3 and 5 can give you enough crown,your call very hard from a flat picture.

Good luck these are just thoughts..cheers Anthony

If you struggle to read that top pic I can make it bigger,let me know.

Thank you! I'll get some photos of the other sides to help. This is very helpful!

Great quick design there Anthony, that would be an excellent use of the material

Cheers,
Mojo

Your welcome Beano,just take your time,segment it over mths or years what ever it takes,there is a very nice tree in there.

Thank you Mojo

Anthony

I got the other photos today.

Front:


Right side facing:


Left side facing:


Back (or new front?):

Firstly nice clear photos well done,okay no one else is jumping in hear,so I will make a call, the number 6 branch I originally called to go is the one for the chop,why? Because it is basically coming out the same place as branch 5,(refer to your right side photo) not good and also nearly sitting on top of branch 7.
That is, if you go with the original front you posted that I like the the best,it looks a better nebari without you showing me any more below the surface.Also looking now at the left hand side photo shows me the main branch left side containing 1 and 2 is going back/away from viewer,that's needs to be brought forward of centre,basically opposite to what your showing me if that makes sense.

While we are looking at the tree I have noticed that its roots are coming over the side,that to me is an indication that it is root bound and medium is spent,our summer weirdly or luckily has gone into Autumn,so I would slip it into a much bigger pot with nice fresh medium, no need to touch existing roots or medium,just slip it,that will get that shine back on those leaves and looking fit again,then spring/summer rectify properly,you might loose some leaves from shock,they do this but bounce back pretty quick.

Hope you don't think I m talking down to you,I just don't no your status,plus might help others just starting.

Okay, remember I am going off photos,this is what I would do,only my thoughts to you,YOU are the trees Destiny and Master you have the final say my friend,good luck I have rambled enough ...cheers Anthony

I've wired the left hand branch 1 down, that side looks great now. The right side curving upward branch is much thicker and will take some time as you suggest. I've out a guy wire on it to slowly pull it down. Hopefully I won't snap the bloody thing.

*edit*Sorry I missed your reply: I haven't removed any branch yet, might just leave it for now. That pot I picked is for when it's ready, not now. I can find a bigger pot. I'm in Cairns and it's still bloody hot and humid here, so repot would probably be ok? It's very much still summer up here. It would help my guy wire anchor a lot if it were in a different pot, that's for sure!

No you're not talking down to me, this information is really useful! I do love the help I get from here. I'm still a newbie, though I've been collecting, hacking and experimenting with trees for bonsai since 2013, a renewed interest from when I was a kid. I still have much to learn but I recognise that I'm stubborn and like to reinvent wheels a lot. I'm also limited by balcony and the light my trees can get from it. This time of year they get full sun from sunrise to around midday then no more. So I do have a little trouble getting some to grow, and the ones that do get huge leaves and long nodes. It's not forever, I am itching to get a real yard.

I was thinking a pot like this for the future:

This has great branch selection use it well benji can die back easy bend once and dont play make a clean bend they can make great treess good luck you get a good. Plan

Hi! I've done a small amount of work on the fig since the original post. I wired down the left side facing branch but the right side is much thicker. I tried a few times to apply the branch bender just it just would sit correctly. So I guy wired it down slowly over a few months. I am yet to remove the guy wire. I also removed one of the suggested right side branches and wired some of the smaller branches to fill the gap left in the canopy.

Beano, I really think you should consider changing your front mate. That first branch seemed to have such nice movement and it is all lost from this angle. What does the tree look like if you rotate it round to the back by 45 degrees. Can you see the lovely movement then?

This pic is with the left branch rotated toward the back. As a tree it looks better but the right hand branch is so long that the canopy gets pushed further from the trunk at this angle and now there's also an eye poke branch. Still nice though. Is this what you were suggesting?

Here's from slightly lower angle

Excuse the colours, it's HDR and I'm shooting into a bright background. It's processed that far in order to see the tree properly