Port Jackson Fig Re Pot

[Matty7]

G'Day,

Just gave this a re pot to check up on it's condition and also looking for curl grubs.

Any advice and styling tips would be appreciated

Also when is a good time of year to defoliate? I have heard you can do it up to 3 times per year and it's long overdue.

Thanks,

Matt

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[tgooboon]

Hi Matty,

The roots look great, I find with ficus, it is better to cut off the thick roots and keep the fine roots. In the image attached you can see two large ones are at odd angles which could be removed, otherwise these just need to removed later.

Re pruning &/or defoliation; i can say that timing is fine in North Queensland for major cutback and/or defoliation at the same time as major root work. not sure if this is possible your colder climate.

I am personally into the multi trunk style for ficus, rather than a single trunk as this is a more natural style for ficus in the wild or as street trees.

I would cut it back and grow multiple trunks - see image.

[shibui]

For a start please note that not all ficus react the same to bonsai techniques. Some species are bomb proof and we can root prune and defoliate with impunity while some species just do not survive aggressive pruning or root pruning.
This one looks like a PJ so it IS one of the bomb proof species and can cope with very aggressive root pruning and branch/trunk chops.

PJ can be defoliated several times a year provided they are healthy. The real question is what are you hoping to achieve by defoliating? Defoliation can achieve certain things but is not a magic bullet that will cure years of neglect.
It appears this tree has long branches. pruning is the best cure for that. While I wouldn't necessarily prune as hard as indicated by Tgooboon unless looking for a specific smaller, fatter looking tree, I would probably cut most of those branches by at least half -actual cuts will depend on what you size and shape you want to end up with.

In cooler climates don't do too much work on ficus until the weather is warm and they are growing strong. I gave some of mine a first prune a week ago. Prime repotting and pruning down here is November through to January but if you have some way to keep them warmer, or live in a warmer area, that can be extended a bit each end.

[TimIAm]

I think the trunk chop suggest by Tgooboon is worth considering and doesn't mean you have to end up with a squat / sumo tree. You can always get a new leader and rebuild the top to any desired height. The problem I see is the long straight section in the middle with the only branches being bar branches (two branches directly opposite).

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You could keep the height, but the lowest branch is the most interesting and not sure how you could fix that middle section. Maybe with an approach graft. Sure PJF back bud a lot, but It's not likely to back bud where you want it on that straight section unless you chop it somewhere. Even if you bring the foliage in, those bar branches with the hole in the center really draws the eye in.

Disclaimer: Although PJF can be bullet proof, doing a major trunk chop still has some risk and the cut takes a while to heal.

Another option would be layering the top off.

I also think where Tgooboon has suggested cutting the lower branches back to is a good idea. It will help bring the foliage in and introduce ramification closer to the trunk. I still like the idea of keeping some green on when pruning back, even though it's a PJF. I've experienced a PJF giving up on a lower branch when I cut it back beyond the last bit of green.

I agree with what shibui is saying about defoliating multiple times and asking yourself why? Defoliating isn't going to bring the foliage closer to the trunk. You are better off pruning and then once you have good branching and secondary branching then letting it grow out and healthy and then think about defoliating. Because you are going to be pruning back hard, it's almost *like* you are defoliating the whole tree, but it's also good to understand what you are doing is pruning, and defoliating has a different aim.

I also agree that the root crossing over the front needs work. I don't think the other roots are a problem.

Regardless of chop or not, I think you should look at your tree and think about:
- What do I want my tree to look like? I've had trees sit on the bench for a couple of years until I have that moment where I can see the long term vision for the tree. This is very helpful in driving decisions around major cuts and branch placement.
- Ratio and scale is important. It doesn't matter if you have a tall lanky tree or a squat sumo; a well proportioned tree helps you see "a tree" and also helps the viewer see the tree as a whole. This thread is absolute gold: https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/1-to- ... ure.21199/ . I don't think there is a perfect ratio, but you should still aim for a proportion and scale over the whole tree. That also includes vertical distance between branches.

[dansai]

I concur with many of the above statements. I would definitely cut it back hard. Figs, particularly PJ's tend to respond very strongly after a repot and hard cut back.

I also find that they tend to throw the 3 or 4 buds closest to the cut. So if you want more branches in close, cut back close. If you only trim the ends it will just bud there. If you defoliate it like it is now, you will most likely only get buds where the current leaves are which are all too far away from the trunk.

I haven't seen PJ's drop lower branches like Tim mentioned, though I have with Morton Bay, so I tend to leave green with them, even cutting leaves down the be smaller. Though this is when there is already branch development. I think if you do it all over the tree at one time you should be fine.

[TimIAm]

I'm just cautious with other people's trees. If I had a nice looking branch like that, I think it's just zero risk to cut back to green and then you would only be waiting 10 weeks for (a decent amount of) new growth on a ficus during this time of the year and then you can cut back again to the new growth.

I had the lowest branch on a PJF, which I cut back then wired down just give up the ghost.

Upper branches, I wouldn't worry and cut back as hard as you like. Because they can be easily replaced.

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Looking at what appears to be the closest green, I'm not even sure if it there is any need to prune back further than that

[tgooboon]

The best time would be when the tree has regained some strength and is actively growing – that you can visibly observe. I am only confident in my location because I have had success multiple times, but understand I live in a subtropical climate.

There is no right or wrong style. My cutback is based on a longer term style, so is definitely not the right choice for everyone – It will involve a few years to grow out, the initial cutback would need to regrow as 2 branches, it will take a few years to fully heal the scar; cut back again, let grow out again.

Rather than a stumpy tree; I was envisaging a mature wide style multi-branch Ficus, which is what I see in my local environment. The wide canopy figs branch out into a multi-brancch from very low down, which keeps splitting into sub branches as it grows. The proportions I see in large park trees have double the width to height. For instance a 1m of trunk would be 8.5m height of canopy and 17m width of canopy.

I have attached a couple photos in my local region for example and am happy to provide more if you are interested.

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[Matty7]

Thank you for all the feedback everyone.

I still don't really know what style I would like to end up with. I might just sit down a stare at it for a while and see what comes to me.

Some of the hints and tips with the roots I will definitely take on board. Not sure about cutting the trunk right down...

As for the defoliating I thought that was supposed to be a good method for reducing the size of the leaves over time?

[TimIAm]

It will reduce leaf size but your branches are too long to create a tree with realistic proportions. With any artwork, scale and proportion are important. If you keep defoliating, it won't bring the branches in.

At the end of the day, it's your tree and your work of art. These are all just suggestions. It looks great already

[shibui]

defoliation alone will not always reduce leaf size.
Defoliation can be used to increase the ramification. It is the increased ramification (more small branches) that will reduce leaf size. Need to pinch out growing tips when defoliating for it to be really effective.
Pruning will also increase ramification which will in turn reduce leaf size too. In addition, pruning also brings the branching back closer to the trunk instead of way out on long branches. See comments on where new buds form in @dansai post above.

Regular tip pinching will also reduce leaf size. Ficus have a pattern of increasing leaf size along any shoot. The first leaf to open is small, the next is a bit bigger and so on. By pinching out the growing tips we only ever have smallest first leaves on the stems.

Any defoliation or pruning removes resources from the tree and weakens it. Best to only defoliate and prune healthy trees. Sometimes it is better to allow a year or 2 of heavy feeding and growth so the tree regains health and vigour before defoliating or hard pruning so you will get a better response.

[Matty7]

Had a trim on the weekend. Sorry about the background.

I will remove the two branches up the top on the right hand side. I'm just waiting to try to get one going a bit further down the trunk to make it look a bit more even.

[TimIAm]

Thanks for sharing your update

Just sharing my thoughts: Not sure which branches on the RHS you are thinking of removing but I suggest you keep these branches (indicated in the picture below) for depth.

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Although they may be visually in the same place as some of the side branches, they are still important. Because it's a photo I may be wrong; but if they do appear to overlap with the side branches in real life you might want to wire them back with some heavy gauge wire. Just a thought.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Chuck a massive amount of chook poo pellets (rooster booster, dynamic lifter etc.) on top of your soil mix & that thing will go off!