AusBonsai

Hi guys, just wondering what your experiences with fig carving are?
I've done a trunk chop and am blending the leader with it, it's around the size I want it. But wanted to carve to give it a more natural look. Any advice?

What kind of fig is it ? I have lots of problems with benjis rotting but all other figs I just carve them and forget them. The water seems to get between the heartwood and bark and in the end the bark just comes off like paper. I have to use a latex tree sealer on the edges as I have found bonsai cut paste doesn't work.

I just use a dremel with a multi purpose cutting bit in it. After you have carved burn the little stubs and "hairs" off with a butane torch and then go over it with a wire wheel.

Hi,
Fig wood is very soft and rots easily up here in the tropics. After hard pruning or carving I think the main advice I can give you is to seal edges and let the new growth grow strong.
Ash

I presume you are just talking about rounding off the chopped area to blend with the new leader, not actually doing any heavy carving?

The only tip I have from past exp[erience is make sure you use cut paste on it, otherwise i find that the bark can dry and crack away from the cut edge negating much of the reason you are doing this in the first place. I forgot to do this on 2 trees the last chop and now i need to go back with knife and carve further down and redo.

Thanks for the advice guys! That's great. Yea it's only a small rounding and blending. Should the cut paste cover all the heart wood and cambium layer?

joelham wrote:Should the cut paste cover all the heart wood and cambium layer?

Yes. The cambium seems to love the protection the sealant is offering and forms fast under it.

Lennard

As per Lennards response, use the paste to cover everything right up to the edge of the bark.

Hi

I've never even seen cut paste for sale , on my Ficus and Elms I simply use (white) wood glue.....I think elsewhere it might be called cold glue.

The results speak for themselves, and especially Ficus close up wounds a zillion times quicker under the seal.

The glue comes off like a little scab once the wound is closed.

Don't do it. They don't heal very well and may rot.. I experimented on one and the tree died sometime later.

ha!

I got no choice but to carve when the time comes to style this one. Wish me luck!

How did you go?

I used carving to bend a very heavy branch on a fig. I gutted the branch till it was floppy, Inserted and underwire and then waited the branch and underwire together and it stabilised the branch in the position I wanted , sealed it with Kiyonal and let it grow to fatten and set.
Never had any problems with rot.

Grant

The entire middle of this F. rubiginosa rotted out after the top died of frost a few years ago. This winter I noticed the water was pooling inside the hollow so gutted out all the rotting soft wood and drilled two holes at the lowest points to allow drainage to the soil. The center is filling with aerial roots and has become a pretty cool feature now