Thoughts on this Willow Leaf Ficus?

Hi everyone,


I've had this Willow Leaf for a month or two now and just thought I'd gather opinions on it. I'm considering whether or not to shorten it, as the apex of it is just a mess. Reverse taper has formed up top due to bundles of branches growing from one spot (previous owners care, not mine). So, here are some shots of it:



If I were to shorten it, there's a branch in this area that I'd cut back and use that branch as the new leader:


Any comments?

Hi Ryan,

If it would be mine I would probably cut out many of those unnecessary branches and wait more to see tree's reaction (e.g. till next winter at least).
I would not rush and do this action at the moment.
In my opinion, feed and watch your tree for a while.

Yes, remove 50-75% of that tree's branches -- especially up top.

Thank you both.


While I do agree that that may help the look up there, there will still always be the bulge that formed, as can be seen in the below pictures:

And you'll still be able to remove it later -- patience! And you and other people make much too much of a little bit of so-called reverse taper. And bar branches, and . . .

Thanks Jim, guess it's all just a matter of taste.

Ryan,
I agree with leaving it as is for now and just reducing the number of branches. The reverse taper showing there seems relatively minimal and with proper pruning can be lessened over a few years possibly. Let it grow strong through the summer and into next season and see how it strikes you then. Patience is more important than having the courage to make big cuts. Let your trees grow and show you where they want to go.

Todd

If you grow the top out you can bring it down to cover the reverse taper.

So I would go with thinning and letting the top grow out.

Good ideas Todd and Billy, thanks!

If I were to keep the top, what do you all think I should do about this bar branch situation? Keep the right one or keep the left one?

OK, the gap between the first branch and the bar branches is too great to work, if they were closer I would remove the branch opposite to the first branch, but that is not the case. If you can develop both and bring the foliage down, you might keep both as part of your banyan style top and hide the reverse taper at the same time.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:OK, the gap between the first branch and the bar branches is too great to work, if they were closer I would remove the branch opposite to the first branch, but that is not the case. If you can develop both and bring the foliage down, you might keep both as part of your banyan style top and hide the reverse taper at the same time.

Great idea Billy, thanks!

Looking it over again, I ended up removing the right branch. What I am going to do is pull down a branch from the upper part of the right to fill in that area:

Haven't really done anything to this tree besides feeding it and letting it grow.