Lance's Ficus

Making some gravy and I said to myself, "Let's cut something"....any suggestions?

Well, if you weren't in New Hampshire, I'd suggest you defoliate it so we/you can actually see what kind of tangle the branches and trunks are in. As is, I can't suggest anything. But I have no idea how fast it would grow new leaves up where you are.

Hey Jimbo....oh yes, defoliating time is well past. Barely . Not much of a summer here yet. Defoliated last year, as I am trying to work it back without pushing. I'm a gonna' clip me some branches though.....

Start with pruning that exposes more of that coolio gnarly tangled trunk!

Almost there...









The Image is a little jarring.....

It's almost like that jutting left branch needs removing, or some extreme shortening. It catches the eye so much and just sticks out there without much movement or taper.

Shh...you'll wake him....I think I'll name him "B@&ner in sweatpants.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ63tZO7_yM&feature=player_detailpage

Since you showed a video from 1982, I guess I can use some old slang- I dig those roots coming up and diving again. Fits with the whole jungle/rain forest look. I like it a lot. The branch on the left being so straight, that's a tough one. I wonder if a branch bender could be applied to bring the branch gradually to the ground, as if pulled there by its own weight...ok I'm reaching. I don't know, but I like the rest of it!

Nice tree Lance. Perhaps when you put the straight branch on the left a bit deeper it will look a bit better. Like a raft, but with exposed roots on the side on the right.
Disadvantage is that the roots underneath the branch won't be showing anymore..

branch benders will take care of that straight branch with a quickness...

use 2 at the same time spaced down the length of the branch...

no need for me to tell you where to bend it, but definitely branch benders

or throw it into cascade pot and make that branch run down the hill...

Rather than keeping the below-the-branch foliage at the end of the straight branch, you might let some of the branches directly above it grow longer, then wire them lower to break the endless view of that straightness.

Since this is a fig, I'd worry that the bender(s) would simply break the branch.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. That branch is pretty thick. I don't imagine it would bend graciously!! It might have to come off as Ryan suggested. It's just a tree to have fun with and I'll keep messin' around with it. I've got another one kinda' the similar size I'll post if the weather breaks. Wait, here are some older ones, two years ago.


 
 





Ha, it's a bush......

Hi Lance, I would consider an airlayer of the long branch. The only question I have is, has anyone successfully airlayered a ficus? I've started
young ficus with cuttings which could be planted in front to disguise the long branch.

Both solutions would take time but as Jim said the option to bend the branch may break it!

It will be interesting to see how this lovely plant progresses....

Best regards,
Norma

Ficus benjamina airlayers with ease. They graft and fuse easily also, and therein may be a good solution...

Yours appears to be f. Microcarpa maybe? Is it more brittle than benjamina?

It's a cultivar of F. microcarpa, perhaps 'Green Mound'.

i have successfully bent thick ficus branches with branch benders.

the trick is: get the bender set and snug and then just a gradual turn of the screw every week or two until it is where you want it and then let it set for a while... you do however end up with small dents in the branch which you take into account when placing the bender...

Ha, this branch must have grown up watchin' Ron Jeremy movies. It's girth, I think, would preclude bending of any sort. Even if you could, it wouldn't be enough. Nope, I'm thinking something like an unconventional pot or raftin' it up. If you've seen Bill Valavanis' book of Fine Bonsai, there is a sick raft made from figs displayed. I believe I could pull off something similar. Bought both as a theme, to represent me, the old lady and junior, (hey, ya' gotta justify the purchase sometimes!!). The same with the second tree. It's perched up on a stone on one side and spreading over a rock on the other. And a little root connected section of foliage right in front of that.Did I mention these pots are like, 23 inches wide. A lot of tree here!! Oh, and there both Green Islands...

beer city snake wrote:
the trick is: get the bender set and snug and then just a gradual turn of the screw every week or two until it is where you want it and then let it set for a while... you do however end up with small dents in the branch which you take into account when placing the bender...

Hey I think my wife learned this in pre-marital education!   (I could show you my dents!)

Precarious wrote:

beer city snake wrote:
the trick is: get the bender set and snug and then just a gradual turn of the screw every week or two until it is where you want it and then let it set for a while... you do however end up with small dents in the branch which you take into account when placing the bender...

Hey I think my wife learned this in pre-marital education!   (I could show you my dents!)

LOL !!!

lance - 23 inch pot gives it some scale... so yeah, thats a thick 'un...