AusBonsai

Hi all,

I am new to Bonsai and would appreciate a little advice on a little Ficus I've recently purchased.

Age: 5/6 Yrs old ficus.

Seems to be budding so assume now is its growing phase (February 2018)? Could anyone help out or point me to information on its growing cycle?

I've repotted it and wired up some of the lower branches thinking I should spread out the branches horizontally. I've stopped at this point as I thought perhaps I should be pruning some of the branches at the top where it is bunching? Would appreciate any tips on the overall design I should consider. Didn't want to destroy the tree by getting a little ruthless!
Cheers !

Hi LB and welcome. A fig is a good place to start, however the tree you have is far too straight and tall and taper less. As you learn more about bonsai you will come to realise that trees look much better if the have some taper, branching progressing up the trunk and even some movement in the trunk. Because this tree is in a bonsai pot it will grow slower than in a bigger pot or even in the ground. If it were mine I would chop it above that first branch and use the first branch as a new leader. Figs grow most of the year - might get a little cold in Sydney in winter and slow down in growth. Plenty of chook poo and water and sunshine.

Bougy Fan wrote:Hi LB and welcome. A fig is a good place to start, however the tree you have is far too straight and tall and taper less. As you learn more about bonsai you will come to realise that trees look much better if the have some taper, branching progressing up the trunk and even some movement in the trunk. Because this tree is in a bonsai pot it will grow slower than in a bigger pot or even in the ground. If it were mine I would chop it above that first branch and use the first branch as a new leader. Figs grow most of the year - might get a little cold in Sydney in winter and slow down in growth. Plenty of chook poo and water and sunshine.

Hey BF - thanks for the tip. Yes I'm realising my Gerty isn't going to win any awards! Still it's a good practice tree. I might invest in some others that are a little more astheatic. Can always hone my skills on the ugly duckling!

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Welcome mate, I agree with Bougy Fan. If this was mine I’d bend the first branch up and put a bit of movement in it. Then I’d wait till next summer and remove the next 4 or 5 branches to strike as cuttings. Then cut the trunk about an inch below the top cluster of branches and strike it as well. With a bit of luck you’ll have 5 or 6 trees on the go. Just my

DocPep wrote:Welcome mate, I agree with Bougy Fan. If this was mine I’d bend the first branch up and put a bit of movement in it. Then I’d wait till next summer and remove the next 4 or 5 branches to strike as cuttings. Then cut the trunk about an inch below the top cluster of branches and strike it as well. With a bit of luck you’ll have 5 or 6 trees on the go. Just my

Thanks for all the advice. Thought I'd have some fun in the mean time. The end result being a natural waterfall in the making. While not your traditional style of bonsai design I'm interested to see how this pans out.

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Hey mate, I posted something similar very recently with my first Bunnings “bonsai” purchase. My recommendation based on my very limited knowledge and a bunch of good folk pointing me in the right direction, would be to plant it in a massive pot or the ground, trunk chop a whole heap off that dead straight trunk to create some movement, and taper. Remember to avoid multiple branches from the same node as it grows, this causes reverse taper which is not good for bonsai. It seems drastic now but you can either have a dead straight boring Nebari tree that’s much bigger or a bonsai tree with some character 4 years from now. Trunk chop at 90 degrees to that vertical, don’t chop on an angle.

I’m from QLD though so if you are south maybe wait til spring.

Complete noob here but I have been paying attention on here and if you take up this hobby seriously you will wish you chopped it in the not too distant future probably by the time you buy your third tree.