Pruning at the tips of the branches will make your tree ramify (branch out) better. However, in your case I would allow the tree to grow unhindered for a while. Your soil looks like plain potting soil, so you should repot it when the weather starts getting hotter into a shallower dish with proper bonsai soil. Keeping it in a greenhouse will provide aerial roots over time, giving a banyan style to the tree that is very natural. Good luck to you and here's a link to a real ficus expert. Chris Here is a link that might be useful: Jerry Meislik bonsai

Punk, We are a couple years away from being able to completely retire and snowbird in Sedona. These chairs are intended for that house, so I won't be using them for a while, but couldn't pass them up for that price! MM, I will see how they clean up before I decide. They are a warm cream color and would work well in almost any setting if they come clean! If not, then I will look for some fabric for them. Janet, thanks. It is actually "Restor A Finish" no e on restore. I bought it at Ace Hardware and it is a one step rejuvenator for wood finishes. Works quite well. Jeanne, thanks, I hope they clean up too! At first, I was thinking of redoing them and painting the wood some accent color, but they are really quite nice and I think I would prefer not to ruin the wood finish. Nana, I seem to see something similar in almost every decorating magazine. DH wasn't too thrilled, but I just told him its my house too, and I liked them! (period, end of sentence!!) LOL Marlene, that TS usually has amazing prices on their furniture. I bought a large 6' tall bookcase for $2.97. It was composite board, but I wanted it for the basement and dish storage, so the price was right. Unless it is something very current and really high quality, they rarely put any high prices on the furniture. However, that being said, these chairs are custom made, very sturdy, and I saw similar ones on ebay for anywhere from $400 to $1100 per chair!! PM, Restor A Finish is great! Also, I have reupholstered tufted headboards, wing chairs, sofas, loveseats, benches, you name it. For me the worst part is pulling STAPLES, tacks are relatively easy compared to staples! I haven't pulled put the steam cleaner yet, so no decision made regarding what I am going to do with them. Thanks everybody! I admit, I was feeling pretty excited about this purchase. It really felt like I scored big on this one! And that is part of the thrill for me of shopping at thrift stores!! TTFN, Candy

They like full sun as adults, although some shade may benefit them when young. They will produce apples in my climate. Not at all rare to find fertile seeds in an apple. Some fruit are grown from sterile hybrids or produce sterile fruit in the absence of a pollinator, but not apples. The "doesn't come true from seed" refers to the fact a seed grown apple usually doesn't resemble the parent. The apple trees we grow are freak "deformed" individuals that make oversized fruit and don't make enough of the bitter substances that deter mammals from eating their fruit. When we find such an individual we take cuttings and use them to grow more trees. While they do produce fertile seed, the seed usually revert to the "natural" version of apples...too sour to eat raw. (But great for making jam). The "chilling period" refers to the fact apples and some other trees get the "signal" to make fruit from temperature changes. If the winters are too warm, they get confused about what time of year it is and don't produce fruit. You could treat the tree as an ornamental, use it to make jam, or use it as root stock try to graft one of the varieties of apple that will grow in Florida onto it. Apples usually won't make fruit for 3 years under the best of conditions.

1. Are these healthy enough that I can chop them down a little? I tried to read up on ficus yesterday, and understand that Benjamina don't handle chopping the trunk very well. I figured I could take care of the roots and put them into some containers with gritty mix, but how much can I prune off? I am most excited about trying to bonsai a few of them, but would also like to have one nice, normal tree come out of the four. 2. Can I prune the roots and, if so, how much can I take off? I understand the relationship with roots to foliage, but if I'm wanting to bring the trunks way down eventually can I root prune harder right now? 3. In southeast Nebraska, could I plant one of these in the ground for the summer if I was trying to thicken it up/increase overall size? 4. Are there any suggested resources online, or books to get from the library for these plants? I'm very eager to start working on these things. And always, thanks so much for this message board. It's been a wonderful resource.