Today I had the urge to do some bonsai work, and the trees that needed the most work were all my indoor dormant and tropical trees. I have a few different seed-grown citrus trees and also my new ficus ginseng.
In this post, I will be pruning the ficus.
Every time I do work on a bonsai tree, I like to inform viewers that I am not a professional bonsai master. This is my hobby, and I do things with some knowledge of a few basic principles, but I also make lots of mistakes. I welcome feedback and comments on the decisions I make on trees. Some choices are made for personal design preferences, and other times I do what I think is best for the tree's health and future design. Sometimes I have no idea what I'm doing, and ultimately the tree will teach me if I made a bad choice or not.
Learning by experimentation brings me a lot of joy and wisdom in this fun hobby. Attending expensive bonsai lectures or reading books about rules on how I should do things, isn't really my forte. My preference has always been to get my hands dirty first (elbows deep!), and reflect on my work later.
Historical Information:
ID: 0027
Nickname: Daikon
Type: Ficus Ginseng
Age: 3 to 5 years. Unknown.
Grown: nursery stock, gift
Last repotting: Never
Wired: Never
View this tree when it was slightly younger: New Tree: Ginseng Ficus
This tree has had a lot of training work done to it before I received it as a gift. It looks like years were spent growing a tall thick trunk, and the roots were encouraged to swell by constantly pruning the deepest taproots. When the trunk was topped (lopped off aggressively with a single horizontal cut, like a lumberjack, removing the entire canopy) by the nursery, they allowed several suckers to form in a thick flush of stems. This caused the large wound to swell and heal over better, because it had so many healthy shoots developing close to the wound.
Now that the tree has become so overly thick, I am desperately wanting to reduce the number of branches connecting to the trunk. I'm very concerned that having this many branches all connected to the same area will cause the tree to form a thick, ugly swollen bulbous trunk, like a light-bulb shape. Hopefully I haven't offended any reindeer reading this.
Picking my favorite branches to maintain was a bit difficult, as you can see in my cover photo, because there are so many branches packed in tightly, with leaves concealing everything. I began my work by reducing the length of branches, using a Directional Pruning method that I will demonstrate in photos.
By scoring the branch at the location I wanted to cut it, revealed a unique trait this tree has. It leaks a milky sap instantly along wounds and cuts. This makes it very easy in photographs for me to show you where I intend to prune the branches.
Directional Pruning is a fancy way to say that the tree is pruned more carefully than simply topping off all the branches with hedge pruners horizontally at the same level. Care is taken to remove branches close to a crotch, to minimize the appearance of any unnatural stumps and stubs left behind. Trees heal very well when branches are pruned close to the node like this, and in bonsai we always prune flush to the attached branch.
When choosing between a long thick branches that continues thick in the same direction, or a thinner branch that angles out in new direction, I prefer to remove the branch that continues straight. Such a branch would be less interesting to look at, and the thinner branch will provide the tapered branch shape that resembles a tree that has aged longer.
After all the branches had been pruned, I was able to clean off all the internal wimpy sprouts. It is important to select the largest branches to maintain first. They have a thicker collar where the branch meets the trunk, and this will look more natural if I maintain the thickest branches, rather than the wimpy little branches that will take years to develop into a size starts to match the attached trunk.
Next I have to make the more important decision. Which of these main branches will I maintain? All of them? Some of them? How many?
I decided to focus again on the branches with the largest collar to be the ones I would keep. Since this tree of six branches really only had three large collars forming, I decided to maintain three branches forming a triangle around the trunk.
Some of the other branches are forming a bit of collar, which I will need to remove with my concave cutters. With these cutters, I can cleanly cut off the entire branch collar, leaving a smooth edge along the circumference of the trunk, and prevent an ugly knob from being left there. This tree already looks like it has enormous tubers in the roots, and I do not care to see that on the top also.
Here is the tree with the three final branches.
In the final step, I do a bit more pruning by reducing the length of the branches. Instead of eight or more leaves forming along a long branches, in bonsai it is smart to reduce branches down to the first two nodes of leaves. This will encourage buds to form that will cause smaller branches to form in new directions closer to the base of the branch.
Bonsai trees are so small, that you want branches to divide and change direction, sometimes less than an inch apart. In the wild, trees may not form secondary branches until the branch has fully grown to its fullest extent, and becoming heavy and weak once it reaches many feet in length. In bonsai, obviously you do not want the tree to grow to that size. If we did, it would not be a miniature tree anymore. Let a tree grow large and wild if that is your goal, or prepare to prune the hell out of it to keep it small if that is your goal.
When I think about the master gardener selecting branches that offer a new direction for the tree to grow, and discarding the stubborn old branches that refuse to change direction, it makes me think about the new year. My personality, though I am very socially adaptive, in my lifestyle I am very set in my ways, and it takes great pressure and stress in my life to convince me that my old way isn't working any more. Perhaps I am always being optimistic, thinking things will get better on its own if I continue to be steady in my course in life. Whether it be a collection of clutter, a growing mess I put off cleaning, or paperwork that I keep putting off, after the work is done it certainly does feel like a load has been taken off my mind, and I can achieve things more easily and quickly because of the fresh vigor that has been renewed within me.
Trees and people have a lot in common. Take care of your bonsai trees by not letting their growth get out of hand, and they will reward you with new perspective and renewed life.
New Bonsai Body
The tree started out with lots of thick foliage and long straight branches, which is described as masculine due to its muscular, strong, robust appearance.
Now that the branches are more clean of excess leaves, and curve from thick to slim lines that can be followed, it can be described as feminine due to its beguiling curves, long lines, slimness, and manicured clean appearance.
This tree was given a little bit of a sponge bath when I finished to clean off some of the leaves that looked like they had some residue on them. In the end the leaves were glowing brilliant shiny green. In the coming weeks I may consider wiring the branches into place too, as ficus is known to be flexible and easy to re-shape.
Conclusion
Here's a sneak peak of one of my citrus trees that I felt also needed some winter maintenance pruning.
In a future post, I'll be demonstrating the work I do on this tree.
Thank you for viewing my work. I hope it brought you some fresh perspective and inspiration.
Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.
Find me on discord and chat with other tree growers, bonsai enthusiasts, and gardeners. We have quite a few accredited experts filling out our ranks, and a helpful Spanish-speaking community.
Bonsai!
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