mushashi

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Well, if my digital camera would cooperate, perhaps I could produce a picture!

The tree is about 5" or 6" tops, but it has a curvy trunk and it is fairly thick because it is of the Chinese ginseng ficus family( the trunk looks almost like a piece of ginseng root but more round with aerial roots), which I think is ficus retusa nitida, but not sure. All I know is that it is imported from China. I also have a larger/older one as well. The branches at this point are so young that they are very thin and green. No woody appearance yet. The grower told me that the tree is several years old but they have to keep cutting the branches back until it is sold because they get to leggy.

Matt, of course that makes sense you need to decide how tall you want to go right from the start in most cases, as this affects the overall design. I think with this one, it would look nice to leave it small, especially since the leaves are staying pretty small for a ficus, at this point.

Anyway, thanks for the help, people. Any other tips as I blunder through this will be appreciated.......


Alasdair, thanks for the humor!