Large Ficus Tunkchop

Carp

gday all
i have a large ficus(benjamima} that must be at least 20 yrs old in a very large pot see pic, the tree must be severly rootbound by now as i have owned it for 5 years and havent touched it (im fairly confident i can deal with that) anyway what i was hoping to do was air layer some nice smaller trees off it and then chop the tunk at about 2/3 -3 feet , im just not confident the tree will survive , should i deal with the roots first and then give it the chop some months down the track when its winter?
what are your opinions oh wise ones?

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dvc00003 copy.jpg (59.8 KB, 196 views)

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Carp

heres a better pic.

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dvc00002.jpg (72.3 KB, 193 views)

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"The aim of life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!"

Carp

and heres a virtual of what i had in mind.

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ficus chop vitual. copy.jpg (55.5 KB, 188 views)

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"The aim of life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!"

Carl_Bergstrom

Sorry not to be more positive, but my personal opinion is that in the absence of any taper or movement up to the height you are considering, this tree is much better left as a tall potted plant than cut down as a bonsai. I'd recommend that you find some more suitable material and do a trunk chop on that.

Best regards,
Old Mister

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DavidN

Have you thought about air-layering the top off parts of the tree. Ficus are very strong in terms of root growth. In this way you will get a few trees from the one plant and you won't kill the stock plant. This is what I would do. I think it would be a waste to trunk chop it.

Carp

yeah david thats the plan, ive already airlayered a really nice little tree off it and it's been my cutting supply for a while now.
thanks for your intrest though.

Attached Images

air layering ficus benja(feb 2003).1 copy.jpg (27.8 KB, 129 views)

__________________
"The aim of life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!"

DavidN

Try going for those thicker branches. I think you will have success.

Carp

gday
if i did the chop and then 6 months later took care of the roots, putting the tree back in it's original pot , wouldnt it then thicken and develop some taper??

__________________
"The aim of life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!"