the starter tree

shibui · Post by **shibui** » June 6th, 2014, 10:02 pm

I like the shape of the tree now. It goes much better with the rock than the taller upright before.
I would be a bit wary of letting the apex get tall though. At the moment my eye is not sure where the tree is - UP?, Down? I find that one direction needs to dominate to give your subconscious a more definite direction so either shorten the long lower branch and make it an upright tree or shorten the upper trunk to make it more cascading I think.

The other bit that jars a bit is the 2 straight roots running down the front of the trunk. All the rest of the tree is movement and leaning to the right but those 2 roots are dead straight and running across the main direction of flow.

I'm not urging you to do anything hasty, just putting forward some thoughts for you to consider. Everyone sees things slightly differently and trees often look different in the round.

Neli · Post by **Neli** » June 7th, 2014, 3:16 pm

A good lesson and tree...
My moto also (learned in a short time) Is:
Do the chopping short in time so you dont waste a lots of time just to have to chop it back later.
I could not figure out what tree it is...Fig?
Darling,
Think Vietnamese Fig with this one...Just google this and look at the pictures.

squizzy · Post by **squizzy** » February 4th, 2015, 2:25 pm

Bit of an update on the fig.

most of my trees have seen little attention over summer. I have been flat out with work. The trees have put on a lot of leafy growth with a warm summer and watering system to help. This one could possibly do with a little more direct sunlight but not an option at this stage. I am about to give the tree a haircut and hope it shoots back before the cooler weather but I think im pretty safe here near the coast.

Photo to follow of before and after prune.

squizzy · Post by **squizzy** » February 4th, 2015, 2:42 pm

before the prune

squizzy · Post by **squizzy** » February 4th, 2015, 2:43 pm

after the prune

shibui · Post by **shibui** » February 4th, 2015, 6:52 pm

You did all that work and left the wires digging into the trunk

Go out right now and do it properly

squizzy · Post by **squizzy** » February 4th, 2015, 8:01 pm

Hahaha. Yeah fair call. Have to address the direction you mentioned before aswell.

Thanks for the honesty. The digging in will grow out enough for me but maybe not future judges.

Cheers shibui.

jezz_39 · Post by **jezz_39** » February 5th, 2015, 7:53 am

Hi Squizzy,
I like the direction you took with this tree after the initial chop, the wire scars can be grown out and are allowed to dig in and scar in the mighty Figs of Taiwan and other such countries.
I think what bothers me is the long taperless section leading to the apex, and the first branch as well. Not saying what you should do, but I know being a Fig I would be inclined to chop both right back for more movement to compliment the movement generated from the original chop. And of course more taper. I would also work a pair of concave cutters on the original chop, clean the edge of the cut with a sharp knife and whack some putty around the cut once the sap dries. It will start to heal over nicely in a season. And a few distracting horizontal roots...

squizzy · Post by **squizzy** » February 5th, 2015, 9:37 am

Hi Jeremy

Thanks for the response. I think both branches bother me also. I like to defoliate and think a while though. I have made some drastic cuts to trees in the past and regretted them. I feel at this stage I could cut about 30mm along the 2 branches from the y junction and build an entirely new canopy from there. The ends of the branches are a nice shape but to long.

More pondering !

Cheers

Squizz

jezz_39 · Post by **jezz_39** » February 5th, 2015, 9:53 am

I think the image looks quite good, but the upper trunk has to thicken considerably and then introduce taper. You can always run a few sacrifice branches while you ponder

Neli · Post by **Neli** » February 6th, 2015, 5:28 pm

jezz_39 wrote:Hi Squizzy,
I like the direction you took with this tree after the initial chop, the wire scars can be grown out and are allowed to dig in and scar in the mighty Figs of Taiwan and other such countries.
I think what bothers me is the long taperless section leading to the apex, and the first branch as well. Not saying what you should do, but I know being a Fig I would be inclined to chop both right back for more movement to compliment the movement generated from the original chop. And of course more taper. I would also work a pair of concave cutters on the original chop, clean the edge of the cut with a sharp knife and whack some putty around the cut once the sap dries. It will start to heal over nicely in a season. And a few distracting horizontal roots...

I agree!
- Put in a training pot!
-Sort out the trunk chop so it heals.
-Leave the first right big branch to grow uninterrupted to heal the scar and fatten the section of the trunk bellow. Then if it overthickens, too much cut back to 1 cm and regrow new branch. Dont rush! Do it properly! Figs are fast. Best way to grow branches is wire, grow and cut back for taper and movement>>>repeat.
-Do the same with the other trunk going up. Select the first left branch as new leader, wire and leave the rest on top as sacrifice branch, to thicken the lower portion.
this is what I would do if it was mine.

squizzy · Post by **squizzy** » February 6th, 2015, 7:42 pm

Cheers Neli.

I love the virt. Just what I was imagining after jezzs suggestions.

Squizz

AusBonsai

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