Need trimming advice with my ficus bonsai

[Trax]

I made this bonsai a couple of years ago now but after moving out it has been very neglected and pretty much just left to grow but I plan to repot with fresh soil and give it a good trim as you can see the beaches are very long and it's very open id like to shorten them so when the leaves regrow it becomes nice and thick giving it a better look, only thing is I don't know how far back I can trim it to achieve this goal any advice or opinions with what I should do would be much appreciated cheers.

[Mount Nasura]

I would make sure the tree is healthy, and then cut 2 thirds off your existing branches and maybe eliminate some altogether. You could also leave one/some to keep vigour in the tree and possible future direction/movement. I'm sure someone can be more specific/helpful but there are a lot of options. Depends on what you want to achieve!

[shibui]

Looks like P.J. or Moreton Bay so it will respond well to pruning anywhere.
You can cut these as hard as you like and new buds will form on anything that is left.
Down here in the south we would leave hard pruning until the weather warms up but up there I feel confident you could prune any time of year.
Regrowth will be better if it has been fed well for a month or 2 beforehand but even hungry ones still bud back well.
Remember that you need to cut back well below your planned size because the tree has to grow back to reach the size you want.

[Trax]

Thanks for the advice and yeah it's a moreton bay fig and should I cut the whole lot in one go or do half then the other half in a couple of weeks it's a healthy plant but I just don't want to kill it, i know nothing in regards to heavy trimming

[Mount Nasura]

If you can tell its active and still have some warm days around for the next few weeks you can chop back all at once if you are happy to begin the branch growing process. Don't water as much as usual and no fertiliser until its showing new shoots, then let it grow out again, similar to what you have done sofar. This way you will achieve some branch taper. Bit more natural then the same thickness of branch from trunk to leaf. All the best.

[Steve B]

If you're a bit concerned about a savage chop, you can go a less drastic route and bend the end of the branches with the leaves down past horizontal. I've been torturing a couple of PJ's and have found if you bend the growing tips down you get shoots back towards the trunk on the higher parts of the branch. I guess its the apical dominance of these figs playing out? Should be less dependant on the health of the tree too as you are keeping most of the leaf mass.

[shibui]

The apical dominance Steve is talking about is a good reason to cut all at once. With some trees, if you leave some long growth the tree will be reluctant to make new buds on the lower pruned area. Bending down the branches is one option but simply pruning it hard is much simpler, quicker and reliable. Having said that, this is a moreton bay fig so should shoot no matter what you do to it so please yourself

[Trax]

Thanks for the help I will be pruning it this week see how it goes I guess