AusBonsai

Heres one of my pj figs which was grown from a pot of struck cuttings given to me in 1984 for the first 8-10 years I had it I had no idea what I was doing. This year I looked at it and thought "your looking quite good". There is two of them and they both have their branches wired at or below the horizontal which is what I did with all my trees when I first started, big mistake. This one has worked but the other one I am very tempted to cut off all its branches and grow a new set in a more broom type style which seems to suit figs quite well. Do I need another 10 year project ?
This tree is about 25cm
Craig

A rippa pj. I started to love figs more and more now.

Figs as well as some others are certainly not conifers grown in snow. Although these days many conifers are syled more rounded rather than so triangular. At 50 you are still a young man!!!

You are so right Ant but thats what they taught us "wire the branches down ". If yo see my collection there are lots of tree mistreated in this way

There are many trees mistreated all over Australia, for all sorts of reasons. All i keep hearing are excuses. Good on you for putting this out there. One day we can only get there.

Craig, I really admire this one

Stunning but suggest you look at reducing the height several centimetres. At the moment the impact is the foliage line, lower the apex and the impact centres on the trunk. With this trunk that is exactly what you want. The shorter foliage line will give a more compact tree with the emphasis on that wonderful trunk. Good movement. I also feel an oval pot and maybe just a tad shallower would suit the fig a bit better. That is only my opinion but figs are so round and I feel softer pots suit them better.

very nice craig, if you dont want a ten year project cut all the branches off, send it to me and i will take a ten year project on with that trunk very nice!

i do agree with mel that the height would work if it was a touch smaller, not much maybe 3-4 cm?

very nice though

first all of thanks to all my senior frnds......because i m also making that mistake of bending branches below horizontal....but till now i mnot very much clear that wht is actually right??????
pls help....

some example's of what could be. open apex's /canopy's , more subtrunks / less branches. i think the exit point of the branch is what is most important. to be rising up and out then the weight curves them back down. What Craig mentioned earlier, some of these styles being broom variations. Again only a concept and a feeling. Each to their own.

Hi Mel yes you are probably correct with regards to the pot, the one its in would be more suited to a chunky pine. With regards to the height of the tree I think it would be best fro me to post a pic in the summer when its defoliated then you can more clearly see its structure.
Hi Ant you right the angle the branches leave the trunk is so important and thats whats annoying me about my other fig I think an upwards sweep would be much more in keeping with the species.
Hi Jamie, good to see you back here you have been missed. I really don't think you need my cast offs. I have seen the quality of your work and know you will have better trees in half the time its taken me to grow these ones. My advice to you would be to spend money on good quality pots so you have them ready for all the trees you will grow in the future.
Hi Yadibrar, to get the branching right you need to understand the species you are working with. For example if you are training a japanese maple then the branches look best leaving the trunk at a slightly upwards angle then the tips should hang down a bit. If you were working with a cedar then the whole branch should sweep down. The pics Ant posted of the figs more than explain how these trees should be trained. Do you ever get up into Himachal Pradesh ? I am sure there would be some amazing plants growing up there.
Craig

G'day Craig, i like it and you should keep refining it the way it is. Probably was a mistake to wire it down but that is what we thought we were supposed to do (in that period of time) and it should be celebrated as a product of that era. Who knows, with the changing fashions happening so quickly it might be back in vogue before you know it. Then they will be calling you a visionary any way i like it a lot.

bodhidharma wrote:G'day Craig, i like it and you should keep refining it the way it is. Probably was a mistake to wire it down but that is what we thought we were supposed to do (in that period of time) and it should be celebrated as a product of that era. Who knows, with the changing fashions happening so quickly it might be back in vogue before you know it. Then they will be calling you a visionary any way i like it a lot.

I have to agree with you bodhidharma. There is no point in keep changing our trees according the latest fashion. But what I do suggest is like other said shorten the taper to make it more powerfull but like Graig said wait till it's defoliated so you can clearly see it's structure. Keep us posted Graig.

Craig,
I like your tree and if it were mine I would rejoice in how nice it looks. I have no problems with it at all!
Jerry

gday mate

thank you for the warm welcme its good to be back, my shakes are settling a bit now

i couldnt call this tree a cast off mate, you have spent the years growing it and training it to where it is today, with a couple of strong growing seasons defoliating twice a year i think you could get this tree nicely ramified and in great shape, its all there already just needs a little time im sure you can do this tree justice

as for gettting high quality trees in half the time, maybe, maybe not as much as all the success's i have had there has been a lot of failures, im just lucky enough to have found a great bunch of people to guide and push me in the right direction, with out that i would still be fumbling around some! thank you for the very kind comments though very humbling

i think bodhi has hit the nail on the head work with it and keep going, i dont think it will be a ten year project, but a little time and you should be good




jamie