Shohin Ficus benjamina 'Kiki'

[The Ficus Guy]

Hello again everyone,


I received this tree as an 18th birthday gift April 19th from a friend a couple states over. Here it is when I received it:



I then, over time, worked on it following advice from Jerry Meislik. I had this as the front:


But, I realized that the large scar from the tree was in front and it just didn't cut it, so I turned the tree around and did some more work on it, removing this many branches:


And getting this:




That was as of a couple of weeks ago, here is the tree as of a few days ago, backbudding very well:

[The Ficus Guy]

I repotted the tree today and cut it back a bit. Below is the tree as of today. Still looking for any input if anyone has any.

[The Ficus Guy]

I was able to bring that branch on the left down a good amount through the use of guy wires.

[bodhidharma]

Hi F.G, Looking at the leader now would be a good time to get some movement into it. Unless you are wanting a taller, straighter tree of course.

[The Ficus Guy]

Hi F.G, Looking at the leader now would be a good time to get some movement into it. Unless you are wanting a taller, straighter tree of course.

Thanks, and good point. I'll see if I can work some movement into it. I plan on a smaller tree due to the small size the leaves can reduce down to.

So far I've narrowed down two possible options for where I want to take this tree. The first is a kind of pine style, the second is, I guess, more of a traditional kind of style.

[The Ficus Guy]

To do that I'd remove all branches except for the ones shown:

[teamak]

What a stonker of a trunk! Wouldn't mind if I got something like that for my birthday!
Which way are you leaning towards in terms of styling ficusguy? I'm having trouble envisioning the pine style but my experience with figs is quite literally zip.

[The Ficus Guy]

What a stonker of a trunk! Wouldn't mind if I got something like that for my birthday!
Which way are you leaning towards in terms of styling ficusguy? I'm having trouble envisioning the pine style but my experience with figs is quite literally zip.

It does have a pretty hefty trunk. I think I'll probably just go the first route and wire the branches out horizontally. That should keep it nice and traditional.

[kcpoole]

Lovely trunk and and wiring the branches out will give a nice wide low canopy which is what figs should look like

Ken

[The Ficus Guy]

Lovely trunk and and wiring the branches out will give a nice wide low canopy which is what figs should look like

Ken

Thanks Ken! I'm having trouble wiring the branches, they aren't seeming to want to move at all. Hm.

I gave the tree a good styling today and here's where I'm at.