Progression of a Ficus m.

Hi all,




Bought this tree at the Potomac Bonsai Festival in D.C. way back in May of 2011. When first purchased it looked like this (bad, old pictures, sorry):



I then air layered the top off:


And did a little more work, that left me lost with this:



So I cut the branch on the right off, and was hoping for a bud there:


By turning the tree to the right and thread grafting a branch to the right side, I was able to find a new front, and here is the tree after a repot tonight:


It's got a ways to go still, but it's getting there. Slowly. Comments are welcome.

nice work so far! Ficus are quick to grow and thicken.. good luck with it.

Thank you Victor.


Here's an updated picture with some better lighting. It's still rather unattractive, but I'm letting the branches grow out and thicken before I cut them back.

Nice job so far!

That's a tiger bark, F. microcarpa 'Kinmen.' I find they are very slow in the North, even in the summer outdoors. But if you keep pinching the branches & twigs back, the leaves reduce quite well.
I think that big root in front is out of proportion. I would cut it back & try splitting.
Iris

bonsaitrimmer wrote:Nice job so far!

Thanks!

bonsaisr wrote:That's a tiger bark, F. microcarpa 'Kinmen.' I find they are very slow in the North, even in the summer outdoors. But if you keep pinching the branches & twigs back, the leaves reduce quite well.
I think that big root in front is out of proportion. I would cut it back & try splitting.
Iris

Thanks Iris. I never really noticed that it was a Tigerbark, since the bark wasn't as smooth as the others that I'm used to, it's much rougher. My other Tigerbarks grow like weeds, probably moreso than my Willow Leaf. I'm just waiting for the branches to get some thickness before pinching back.

I do agree about the big root and will address that come spring or so.

How is this one coming along?

This one's getting there. I've been working on getting foliage closer to the trunk, but it hasn't been too reliable with the backbudding...

Today I finally removed that large root and the one on the side. I think it gives the base a wider appearance: