Specialty Gardening: Ficus Fotos For Prune-o-Fobes, 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
As I look at the part you want to chop off, I see you about to remove about 2/3 of the photosynthesizing mass of the tree. What that means in terms of the time it will take the tree to develop into a bonsai is a factor of 3 - that is 3 times longer than if you were to leave it on.

I'm going to talk to you as if you had brought your tree to a BYO workshop and suggested your plan to me. I would assure you it's fine with me - no matter what you decide - it's your tree & you should do what pleases you. I fully understand the need for budding artists to have a tree, or several, in pots that you can treat as your bonsai. I would explain though, that on the other hand, there will soon be a time when you'll be looking at your trees with an eye for the future. THAT eye would have you more concerned with the roots and determining the likely front for your tree, Once you figure out the view that looks good (using only the roots), you can plan your tree around that aspect. Leaving the top on your tree doesn't stop you from selecting at least the first three branches, or even just the first.

You can see what I mean by looking at the larch I bought for $10 this spring. You can see I chopped lots of branches to ensure good light to the tree I'll be using. In spring, the tree will be chopped back to the branch wired off to the right. That branch will be my first branch. The branch on the left will be a continuation of the new trunk. I'll let that grow for 2 years to catch up with the main trunk's thickness. Essentially, the trunk that is above the 2 wired branches is now simply a sacrifice branch. It won't be a part of the composition, but all the foliage above what you can see is feeding and fattening the trunk.

If you look very carefully, you can see the new leader wired upward off the branch that moves to the left. The wired branch that continues at a 45* angle moving left past the new leader is the next sacrifice branch. I will let that grow to about 1/2 the thickness of the main trunk, then cut that one off, too. I will already have the next sacrifice branch in place. In 5 years, the tree will be ready to go in a bonsai pot so I can start refining & working on ramification.

Do you see how we develop trees so they have taper & character? It's ok if you don't understand, or if you just want to have a little bonsai in a pot. I get that entirely. ;o) No problem at all. Bonsai is all about the personal journey, so make sure you're having fun. I just thought I'd flesh out the part you might not yet understand.

Al