Work in Progress

SiNguyen

Hi Randy, I have to agree with what Anttal said, It was pretty gutsy to chop off all those branches. If it was mine, I would have kept most of those branches, at least all of the lowest branches. The low branches you had were pretty good. On these banyan style bonsai, you really need them. They give a lot of width to your tree. Plus they give you aerial roots too. On banyans, you want a low and wide canopy of branches. Here's a sketch of how I saw your tree. Anyway, at this point, it is not so bad either. You just have to grow it out again. The sihouette of your design would just be of a rounded look, rather than a flat and wide look. You were lucky to have your friend keeping the tree alive and strong as it was and not chopping it to hell. Good luck with it. And please keep us posted. I would love to see this tree again in a few years.
Si

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rjj

Hi Si,

That is certainly a very nice option. I wish air roots grew easily here.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

SiNguyen

Hi Randy, this variety of ficus should put out aerial roots fairly easily, especially on an old tree like yours. If I could get it to grow in Southern California, then anybody could do it. Do what everybody else does, just put a wall of some kind around the trunk and high branches and fill in the space with some loose materials like bark mulch or pumice, then water it well, then watch them roots go! Your winter will set it back a bit, but the mulch can keep it warm too. There are some pictures of this procedure on here somewhere I believe. Do a search and see. Here's a picture of one of mine I posted 9 months ago. It had put a lot more aerial roots this summer. I just don't have a new picture of it.

Actually, looking at your tree again, I think it would be good as a tall informal upright too. It has a few good curves on it. There's always more than one option.
Good luck!
Si

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rjj

May try that some day. Thanks Si.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7

treebeard55

Hi, Randy,

From what you've posted, it looks to me like you've been doing a good job of developing it, while maintaining as many options as possible.

Let me offer a comment you might not get from anyone else. I grew up in Ecuador, with a number of years spent in the rain forest. Your tree's nebari has a familiar look to me; it distinctly reminds me of all those rain forest trees I was so familiar with!

So, maybe you want to look at tropical trees for ideas. Food for thought, at least?

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Treebeard 55

"To do bunjin is easy. However, to do a bunjin masterpiece is difficult." -- Susumu Nakamura, at MBS '07

Dale Cochoy

I just noticed this post.
Randy, it looks like you pulled off a good "save".
With that great rootbase I think I would make that small branch coming up in front of the "sacrafice" branch my new leader. You don't really NEED to beef up the rootbase anymore.
What height above soil is that branch starting?
Also, from your repot pics I thinkI would have opted for a shallow training pot. You could make it very wide if wanted but It looked to me from root pics like you should have kept it shallow like the one it was in originally. If it hasn't rooted a lot to lower part of your nursery can since repotting I think you could still do this without removing any roots? just lay them out horizontally. This will save you from having to chop them again in the future to get it back into a lower pot. Unless I'm looking at the pic wrong.
D.

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If you want to be Different....
You have to DO something Different!
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Some people NEVER take the time to do a job right the first time....
but, they always seem to make the time to do it over again...
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Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio
Yakimono no Kokoro Bonsai Pottery
Hartville, Ohio

rjj

Thanks. It does remind me of some of the ficus I've seen in the jungles of the lower Yucatan.

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Randy Jones Norman Ok USDA Zone 7