windswept exposed root ficus

Heres my windswept ficus that's been in trainig for a few years and is now begiing to take shape (apologies for the first two wonky pics).





first trim...





second trim... i hope i didnt go too far





next is to get myself a decent pot. Thanks for looking.

That is Ficus benjamina, 'too little'... correct?
A nice tree.
And, I can see how hard you've been working to make this into a wind-swept styled tree.....
But, to my eye this tree looks like it would make a really nice, exposed root, (upright) broom style bonsai.
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Just sayin'.....

Its going in the right direction for a windswept.


I like this shot best as a possible front :



It would be interesting to see something other than upright ( formal/informal ) for a change.
And this material has potential to make it!

Thanks guys. Its started off as an upright, but on my regular walks around the South Wiltshire Downs i was very inspired by those dramatic windswept bushes. So in time thats what im hoping to recreate.

as for the type of Ficus... im not sure. for a long time it was a house plant that had fallen down the back of my mothers filing cabinet. she watered it by aiming water at it because she couldn't move the cabinet. amazingly it survived and grew into a cool shape.

At some point i might wrap the roots to try and encourage more root growth.

john... i dont want to sound like a dick but windswept is not a very convincing style for the way that one has grown (and i think for ficus in general)...

the configuration of the trunks/roots does not look like something that would happen in a wind driven environment...
(when thinking wind swept, think almost constant wind)

if its a wndswept you are looking for, perhaps you could pilfer one of, or part of, one of the bushes you mentioned in south witshire downs  

if it were mine, i could see keeping the potting angle but then maybe allow it to grow UP and OUT...
almost as if something happened to it, to knock it over (like falling behind a cabinet   or getting trampled by a fast moving turtle at a young age) after which it just carried on as normal, growing UP and OUT...

just an opinion...

I tend to agree.

Hey Kevin, you know what... ive been struggling with this tree for quite a while now and in the back of my mind i've been thinking pretty much the same thing. But i can be quite stubborn at times and refused to give up despite it never looking quite right. Im about to replant it into a new pot and will stop being stubborn and consider your comments. Thanks.

no sweat... i think windswept is easy to try to do: i.e. lean the tree over and call it windswept

but it really is difficult to pull off convincingly... especially when you look at really good ones...

the best thing i read on creating windswept is:
every single bit must appear windswept, right out to the tips of every single branch

and there-in lies the difficulties...

i have some that fall well short of that goal

So listening to advice given. ive decided to move away from the windswept... which was never really working anyway... to a leaning style. Here are photos of the tree now and a Photoshop mock up. Im also trying out the tin foil and sphagnum moss wrap to try to encourage more exposed root growth.

My little ficus update. Coming along nicely. Constant pinching out whilst allowing the foliage mass to grow over the trunk. I'm also wrapping the roots in cling film to encourage more aerial root growth... seems to be working.

20170606_164756 by John Deller, on Flickr

20170606_164736 by John Deller, on Flickr

looking much better... partly because its not being called windswept any longer

but seriously though, coming along well in its slightly new direction.
(and nice pot choice too)

It's nicely going!
I like the first picture as the front.
Which one do you like yourself?

Thanks.

I think i agree regarding the front... the other side looks like its being attacked by an octopus lol