Ficus Natalensis

[Craig]

Hi all, this is the Natal fig that i took ownership of recently. It is 450mm high, 600mm wide, depth of arund 550mm,, the base is about 200mm wide. I've taken off the lowest branch because it was to the rear ,thinned out some branches, a little wire and pulled some of the branches down with guy wires,, also as you can see a defoliation. The roots are fantastic on 2 sides but need work on the other 2(front and rear). Some people liked this tree when it was for sale, so i thought id keep you all posted Thanks Craig

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[Jamie]

hi mate

this one is a good buy, I am a little concerned about the bar branching in the middle though. it is repairable though

[craigw60]

Nice old Fig Craig, its not often I disagree with Jamie but I do on this one. I wouldn't worry about the bar branches at all, just wire some twigs forward to conceal them you will only notice for the short time its defoliated.
Craigw

[Jamie]

hi guys

sorry, I should of elaborated a little more then I did, my little one demanded my attention. my concern of the bar branching isnt appearance but trunk problems later down the track.. although going with Craigs Idea wiring to hid it would also work. it is a tree that you probably wouldnt really want to do major surgery with.

jamie

[Craig]

Thanks Jamie and Craig, i agree when you first look at the branch placement it has a bar problem, even the second layer of branches leave the trunk around the same area,however like Craig said when in leaf, you wont really notice that.Thats also why i've turned the tree slightly to the right, most of the 1st left branch wont be visable. It would be a massive job to cut all branches off and start again not to mention the scars that would be left, so i dont really wont to go to that extreme. I'm going to grow some new roots and work on the lower trunk, as that is more distracting than the branch placement. All in all it's a tree thats pleasing to the eye, with a nice tapered trunk, that just needs some TLC Craig

[craigw60]

Yeah the root base could do with a bit of work I agree with that. With regards to the bar branch its just a matter of keeping an eye on it to make sure the trunk doesn't swell at that point but its unlikely i would say.
Craigw

[Pup]

Looking good Craig, as to the bar Branch bar branches are at the same level if you put a straight edge across you will see that one is higher than the other, by at least the thickness of the branch.

I have seen this on trees that are 20 plus years old and no problems. Aerial roots coarse more problems than managed branches. When one branch is getting to thick defoliate it and leave the other,no problems.

Cheers Pup

[Craig]

Thanks Pup, its not an exact bar branch, they are at slightly different heights, the pic is slightly deceiving and it's easy to see why Jamie pointed it out. Even if they were in line(bar) it would be a hard choice to take a branch off and start again, sometimes bar branches can work on a tree, even tho its frowned upon, thanks Craig

[nealweb]

Well done Craig, a great aquisition and I like what you have done with it. Will it stay in the grow box for the moment, while you work on the nebari, or are you going to get it into a bonsai pot?

[Craig]

Thank Neal, this is what im up to_ I'm leaving in this box until i have established some good new roots to work with, i have a new pot for it but we'll just wait a bit.., I need to fill in the empty front lower trunk and develop some surface roots(same goes for the rear) , so i've cut a small pot to fit the section i want roots to form and filled with soil. hopefully i get new roots and can train them to fill in the section i want .The reason i've sectioned it off like this is so i dont ruin the roots which are already good(if that make sense) ,heres a few pics Thanks Craig

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[banksia]

G'day Craig!. Just yesterday I was going to P.M you and see what you'd done to this....as when we parted you were off to get some soil and a pot if I recall correctly. Looking good...and the defoliation will only help more.
Normally I'm not one to give such advice, but by owning the tree for some time, I feel (and hope) my comment isn't taken the wrong way...it is after all your tree
I found that this particular species grows like a man possessed and you have to be quite vigilant on a few things...particularly root growth. If my memory serves me correct (and my head is like a sieve ) this was getting pretty root-bound ....so seeing as you de-foliated it...it might be a good opportunity to give it some fresh soil if you have the time. One other thing, and that is, on your front, the bottom right hand branch took only three seasons to grow to this point. So you see what I mean when I say they're a rampant grower. I don't believe it would take that long to re-grow certain branches if you wanted to.
I personally always thought a nice Shohin could be made from the top third .
Again, I hope this advice isn't taken out of context, as I too think you have done the tree some justice already. Keep it up and keep us all posted on it's progress.

Cheers!
Anthony

[Craig]

Cheers Anthony, I welcome your advice freely, Its good to know how long it took you to grow the branch,thanks,

I found that this particular species grows like a man possessed

i love the way you put it I'm not too worried about repotting yet, maybe latter in the season,no real rush as being a little rootbound may serve to help my new roots develop a little quicker.

I personally always thought a nice Shohin could be made from the top third

At this point i wouldn't even consider taking the top off but maybe in the years to come that could happen,

as I too think you have done the tree some justice already

thanks mate your too kind, ,,,, Craig

[nealweb]

Thank Neal, this is what im up to_ I'm leaving in this box until i have established some good new roots to work with, i have a new pot for it but we'll just wait a bit.., I need to fill in the empty front lower trunk and develop some surface roots(same goes for the rear) , so i've cut a small pot to fit the section i want roots to form and filled with soil. hopefully i get new roots and can train them to fill in the section i want .The reason i've sectioned it off like this is so i dont ruin the roots which are already good(if that make sense) ,heres a few pics Thanks Craig

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Great stuff, very interesting. Are you doing anything special to encourage roots to form - other than putting soil against the trunk. Maybe being a fig thats all thats needed. I have an azalea that looks similar - except on a smaller scale! - and I just tried the toothpick method that I have been seeing here a bit lately. Holes packed with moistened rooting hormone held in place with a toothpick, I then put sphagnam moss below them and mounded the soil up around it all. I hope it works. Everyone seemed to be doing it on deciduous species but i thought it was worth a try on evergreen. It will be good to see how you go getting the extra roots growing. Make sure to update us all when you expose it all again.

cheers,

neal.

[nealweb]

I personally always thought a nice Shohin could be made from the top third .


Cheers!
Anthony [/quote]

I never saw it like that before but now you mention it - and especially looking at the rear defoliated view - it does look like a little tree sitting ontop of a big one. That way the bottom tree would get a more rounded mature looking canopy and an very solid looking height to trunk ratio.

[Craig]

Are you doing anything special to encourage roots to form - other than putting soil against the trunk

No nothing special Neal, we'll see how it goes, thanks Craig