AusBonsai

i collected this ficus about 2 years ago, it was well established and quite large( for growing out of a wall) after the initial potting and trim i wasn't happy with the shape, since then i have carved the stump/trunk and decided on the general growth of the tree and have just defoliated it.

and early pic, showing the initial budding



a front view



and the carved trunk

alex


have you burnt the dead wood or added an ink to lime sulpher or the sorts? i would consider using a wood hardner on this as ficus wood can get pulpy quite quick under humid wet conditions on the other hand it is quite possible that the wound will roll over quite quickly and you will find yourself with a different sort of trunk.

its going well other wise. i would let it grow out quite solid for a while now to get some branch structure oppurtunities
then defoliate and wire once you got choice and remove anything else that wont be part of the overall design of the tree

good luck and enjoy

jamie

i just added a little ink to the sulfur and made sure the carving is well tampered at the bottom and it hasn't been a problem with rot yet (some 8/9 months of watering) the foliage is already very well reduced and am looking forward to the outcome of full foliage

ahh good stuff! looking forward to the next installment, any chance you could take before shots of how the tree is before you refine it? i would love to see where ya go from to where ya are

cheers!

jamie

a little growth

partial defoliation



and getting a fairly nice spread

looks great, this ficus is really coming along

Ben

A few months of growth , starting to form some shape now.

well done

Working on a little foliage reduction.

Front.



Back.



Am getting some nice form to some of the branches.

wow that didn't take too long to develop. Nice!

a nice little fig ,you may want to remove or re do the large wire as it is crossing over another wire that is wound in the opposite direction. you may also want to remove some of the wire that is cutting in before you cant anymore as ive notices a lot of wire scaring but this should grow out in the years to come.

Thank you.
I am letting the tree grow over the wire , it is already covered and reformed over a few large areas. Re the crossed wires I do need to sort that out.

the good thing about figs is the scars grow out rather quickly

Another few years on , getting some nice ariel roots finally.