SANDPAPER FIG - Ficus coronate

[MelaQuin]

FICUS CORONATE
Sandpaper Fig

Bonsai enthusiasts dote on the charms of the local Port Jackson fig, fIcus rubignosa, but you don’t often see Sandpaper figs as bonsai. This is a pity and a lack that should change. Sandpaper figs are native to Australia and occur from Queensland to mid Victoria. In NSW they grow on the coast, tablelands and western slopes along creeks and gullys, growing in sun and partial shade.

The sandpaper fig produces fruit readily, small furry figs that are bush tucker food and can be eaten when they are ripe. It is preferable to peel them as the spiny skin can be an irritant. The sap can be used on wounds to promote healing. The Sandpaper is a small tree that can grow 6-12 metres with a grey/brown trunk and ovate or elliptical leaves that are 5-15 cm in length in its natural habitat. The leaves are sandpaper rough on the top side. This rough characteristic and the bright green leaf colour make Sandpapers attractive as bonsai.

It is not as easy to locate sandpaper stock as it is the ubiquitous Port Jackson but well worth looking for. Small, young stock can be ground grown or put in a large pot for a couple of years and the trunk will thicken rapidly. Keep control of the branching even in the ground so the thickness doesn’t get away from you. Prune and shape regularly even if branches are left longer than for bonsai. It is easier to get what you want with ground care then ending up with a beaut trunk and branches that are too thick and inappropriately placed when you dig the tree up. Lift the tree annually to trim the roots and remove any overly large ones.

You can defoliate as you would with Ports or continually remove leaves that are too large. Defoliate to get ramification but generally just remove the larger leaves. You don’t get many so it is not an onerous job. The leaves miniaturise wonderfully well and can get to a quarter of the size of the normal leaf. Pinching back the growing tips keeps the tree compact.

Occasionally at bonsai club sales you can pick up interesting stock as in this example.
10 September 2010 – Bonsai Society of Australia Marketplace
The tree was leggy, branches inappropriately located and some wire marking on the trunk but the hollow at the base of the trunk and the character of the tree definitely said ‘potential’. Note the leaf size.

Sandpaper Frog 2010-09 1.jpg

10 September 2010 two hours after purchase. Excess growth removed and shaping started. Potted in good soil and left to contemplate the pains of care and get started on its new life. Any setback it might have suffered from being potted out of season was countered by being settled into a good growing mix and it was only lightly root pruned.

Sandpaper frog 2010-09 3.jpg

December 2010 and note the new branchlet lower right – exactly where it is needed.

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March 2011 and the new branch is being allowed to grow wild while the other growth is being maintained. The hollow trunk has been dremelled to achieve an attractive natural look and the other wounds have been carved as well to emphasis the feeling of hardship and age. You can also see how beautifully the leaves miniaturise with the controlled growth on the left small and tight and the rampant growth on the right big and leggy and the branchlet now achieving branch status.

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January 2012
16 months after training started the tree had developed into a very presentable bonsai. Although the two lower branches are in close proximity, there is just enough of an offset plus the different growth directions to miss ‘bar branching’. A Penny Davis Mudlark Bonsai Pot sets the tree off superbly. Fresh wiring has corrected some branch angles and with this tree it is important to get foliage in front of the apex as the trunk tends to lean back a bit midway above the first left branch and while the apex grows forward, foliage can be encourage to grow in front of this defect to hide it. The lower left branch is well established and looks a lot older than 16 months.

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The development of this mature tree from a rangy stock plant to a well controlled and very natural looking bonsai has only taken 16 months… say 18 for the latest wiring to set. The rapidity of the growth and thickening of the lower right branch attest to the fact that you should watch this tree and prune and shape it regularly if you ground grow a younger one so you can direct growth before it sets.

The tree is 28 cm high. It has pleasing if not fantastic surface roots, a trunk with heaps of character, beautiful leaves and a nice shape. The only ‘back’ branch is near the apex but a branchlet close to the trunk from the first left branch has been developed as a back branch and works very well. This Sandpaper fig shows how styling can conceal and/or modify what could be considered as defects in a bonsai. But nothing is perfect and a bit of skill can make a tree with some serious issues into a very beautiful tree. This should also encourage enthusiasts to start looking for sandpaper stock in nurseries or find a nice creek and collect a tree. Because sandpapers like to grow near water they should have roots close to the base and be easy collecting material.

So let’s see more of this beautiful native on the benches. It normally produces abundant fruit but in this instance the tree has been constantly nipped to encourage more foliage so any fruit has been ‘nipped in the bud’. But next year…..

[Chris H]

Thanks.
What a great little thread.
I have never heard anything of this type of tree. A sandpaper fig.
I'll look out for it.

[aussie4bonsai]

Thanks for thread
It has inspired me to find mine and start work.

[Jerry Meislik]

Very nice progression and in a brief time span.
I need to find one of these to work on.Thanks MelaQuin.
Jerry

[MelaQuin]

Oh Montana....I hope you have a warm bush house or, in your neck of the woods, a prairie house. It doesn't like the cold tho if it grows in Victoria it must have some resistance to frost... but snow? Warmth and humidity and it will roll with the punches.

[Matthew]

i think a few members from the Capricron bonsai society have some. I had a sumo shohin one but sold b4 i left, cant remember which member in that club it was too? trunks develop rapidly and get an aged appearance quicky. The problem i found with these is developing branching and ramification which is slow indeed. The leaves are very large but do reduce with defoliation and constant pruning the sandpaper name comes from one side of the leaf having a rough appearance. I think they are more suited to a large tree but my shohin did look good when defoliated (memories now i miss it )