I found a 7 foot Ficus Benjamini on the side of the road this spring, root bound, the owner had decided to throw it away instead of get it out of the pot. After about 3 hours with a saw I had it out of the pot and root pruned. I pruned the top heavily and repotted in a larger pot to let the roots recover from the heavy pruning. It has a 6" trunk at the base. What I was thinking was to air layer some of the larger branches off this summer. Then next growing season either chop the trunk and wait for new branches to pop. OR I could get a ficus "too little" and start whip grafting them to the trunk wherever I want. The trunk is basically straight and doesn't taper for about 2.5 feet until there is a large not from a dead branch on one side and the trunk swells around this. I would make the chop just below this swell. What kind of cut should I make? Straight across or tapering from the back? I was thinking of an informal upright or broom style since there isn't much taper. What do you think? I'll try to post a picture tomorrow to let you see it. Would you start whip grafting now or let it recover more? Since I didn't pay for it and they are pretty hardy I already have two branches air layering. Thanks for your help and advice on this. Ted

rjj1 I like your tree (unless I'm the auther all that "crap" your talking about). Grin. I think the taper will be less apparant as the tree ages . If not , you can cover the abrupt taper and some of the upper part of the heavy trunk with some stratigicly placed foliage pads. I think when you see a large heavy root base and lower trunk , then part of the trunk is partiallly hidden by foliage ,then thinner upper trunk , our minds accept that the trunk tapers all the way up. I did a chop like this on some Chamacyparis , and left them in the growing pot for another season , being very top dominant,and vigorous the new leader got bigger than the old trunk. so now I'm doing like your tree and potting to a smaller pot . I believe it will slow down the upper growth, and make finer ramification easier than the ground or a grow pot. This is no flash, I'm sure experianced people all ready all know this. I think some of the misunderstanding about drastic pruning when looking at masterpiece Bonsai , is that it's awkward stage , and scars , and abrupt changes all took place decades ago. Now all we see is a gracefull "perfect" tree.But it didn't allways look like it does now. You said this tree would never be master class, but I believe with time and effort, it could be. One of the best American bonsai ,I ever saw, was a Ficus nerifolia , root connected group "Banyan Style"called The Cloud . Down in S Florida, it all started with a few little ficus cuttings , probably less than $20.00 worth, not nearly as impressive as your tree , time and imagination. I probably will never have a world class bonsai, but that never was the point. When I look at at a potential bonsai, I look for future possibilities . If I can visualize a future tree, then I feel challanged . Am I good enough to make this happen ?. Then I either pass, or pick it up. The question of world class , or masterpiece never enters my mind. If that makes me a hobbiest , or a backyarder , then I'm a happy one , and therefore a successfull one . Thanks for the chance to ramble. Luck with you tree. R

I think these two articles will help answer the first two questions, and help me from doing a lot of explaining as far as trunks go :) Brent Walston's site (first link also has other articles that will help you. http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/trunks.htm http://bonsaijournal.com/beginners-trunk-chop-101.php I would allow the roots to stay the way they are and keep as large a root mass as possible (in a larger pot) while the tree is in training. The larger the root system the more vigorously the tree will grow and it will develop quicker. At this point the only root work that should be done is the removal of any 'tap roots' (roots growing directly downward) and any radial roots that are growing at a bad angle too large and out of proportion with the rest should be trimmed back. One of the most prevalent problem in the west is people are over anxious to get an instant bonsai and or put their trees in a Bonsai pot right away. I would save a Bonsai pot for a tree that has reached the refinement stage(no longer in the training stage) as once the trees roots are reduced and it is planted in a more confined Bonsai pot the tree will slow down in growth and development drastically. As for the second question, yes you should always use some training wire to secure the tree in the pot. This is to keep from have the tree fall out of the pot in the instance it will be knocked over as well as other reasons. As for soil while mixtures are tailored in accordance to the local weather conditions it is always best to use a course free draining soil that stays moist no longer than 2-3 days tops. Boon Manakitivipart's Mixture works just about anywhere though and is a optimal choice in my opinion and is comprised of equal parts Akadama,Pumic, and lava rock. That being said it isn't the cheapest and Akadama might be hard for you to find (cheaply). You will have to play around to see what works best for you but for a begginer Turface MVP is a good additive to use (and can be found at just about any sports store or farm store). All in all if you are a beginner nothing is better than to find and join Your local Bonsai club where seasoned artists will be able to give you valuable information as to special needs in your geographical location. Your local libary is also a good source to read up on Bonsai books at no expense. Hope this helps and good luck on embarking on your new and wondrous hobby. -Mike

It definitely needs repotting. The interveinal chlorosis might be nutritional, but it looks more characteristic of foliage that is in the process of being shed - ie the plant is translocating pigments & nutrients out of the leaves for use in other plant parts. Here is what my thinking is: If you prune it back now, you'll be pruning it back to already compromised foliage that is likely to be shed in the near future - not a good move because it leaves the tree unable to make it's own food. If you REALLY want to rejuvenate the tree, I'll help you, but anything you do, other than a full repot, is only going to give the tree a temporary lift. Actually, I just left this piece (below) from one of my other posts on another forum here. Read through it, please, for an illustration of the difference between a repot and potting up. If you do decide to repot, I can give you step by step instructions, starting with what to do now, so you can have the tree back on track by summer's end. If you decide to go forward, we can talk about suitable soils and a fertilizer regimen the tree will respond well to. The timing of certain procedures is closely related to energy management, which gets too little consideration by most growers tending trees in containers. Because repotting and root pruning seem to be most misunderstood on the list of what it takes to maintain trees that will continually grow at close to their genetic potential, I will include some observations about those procedures to open the discussion. I have spent literally thousands of hours digging around in root-balls of trees (let's allow that trees means any woody plant material with tree-like roots) - tropical/subtropical trees, temperate trees collected from the wild and temperate nursery stock. The wild collected trees are a challenge, usually for their lack of roots close to the trunk, and have stories of their own. The nursery stock is probably the closest examples to what most of your trees are like below the soil line, so I'll offer my thoughts for you to consider or discard as you find fitting. I've purchased many trees from nurseries that have been containerized for long periods. Our bonsai club, just this summer, invited a visiting artist to conduct a workshop on mugo pines. The nursery (a huge operation) where we have our meetings happened to have purchased several thousand of the mugos somewhere around 10 - 12 years ago and they had been potted-up into continually larger containers ever since. Why relate these uninteresting snippets? In the cases of material that has been progressively potted-up only, large perennial roots occupied nearly the entire volume of the container, plant vitality was in severe decline, and soil in the original root-ball had become so hard that in some cases a chisel was required to remove it. In plants that are potted-up, rootage becomes entangled. As root diameters increase, portions of roots constrict flow of water and nutrients through other roots, much the same as in the case of girdling or encircling roots on trees grown in-ground. The ratio of fine, feeder roots to more lignified and perennial roots becomes skewed to favor the larger, and practically speaking, useless roots. Initial symptoms of poor root conditions are progressive diminishing of branch extension and reduced vitality. As rootage becomes continually compressed and restricted, branch extension stops and individual branches might die as water/nutrient translocation is further compromised. Foliage quality may not (important to understand) indicate the tree is struggling until the condition is severe, but if you observe your trees carefully, you will find them increasingly unable to cope with stressful conditions - too much/little water, heat, sun, etc. Trees that are operating under conditions of stress that has progressed to strain, will usually be diagnosed in the end as suffering from attack by insects or other bio-agents while the underlying cause goes unnoticed. I want to mention that I draw distinct delineation between simply potting up and repotting. Potting up temporarily offers room for fine rootage to grow and do the necessary work of water/nutrient uptake, but these new roots soon lignify, while rootage in the old root mass continues to grow and become increasingly restrictive. The larger and larger containers required for potting-up & the difficulty in handling them also makes us increasingly reluctant to undertake even potting-up, let alone undertake the task of repotting/root-pruning which grows increasingly difficult with each up-potting. So we are clear on terminology, potting up simply involves moving the plant with its root mass and soil intact, or nearly so, to a larger container and filling in around the root/soil mass with additional soil. Repotting, on the other hand, includes the removal of all or part of the soil and the pruning of roots, with an eye to removing the largest roots, as well as those that would be considered defective. Examples are roots that are dead, those growing back toward the center of the root mass, encircling, girdling or j-hooked roots, and otherwise damaged roots. I often explain the effects of repotting vs potting up like this: Let's rate growth/vitality potential on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. We're going to say that trees in containers can only achieve a growth/vitality rating of 9, due to the somewhat limiting effects of container culture. Lets also imagine that for every year a tree goes w/o repotting or potting up, its measure of growth/vitality slips by 1 number, That is to say you pot a tree and the first year it grows at a level of 9, the next year, an 8, the next year a 7. Lets also imagine we're going to go 3 years between repotting or potting up. Here's what happens to the tree you repot/root prune: year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 repot year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 repot year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 You can see that a full repotting and root pruning returns the plant to its full potential within the limits of other cultural influences for as long as you care to repot/root prune. Looking now at how woody plants respond to only potting up: year 1: 9 year 2: 8 year 3: 7 pot up year 1: 8 year 2: 7 year 3: 6 pot up year 1: 7 year 2: 6 year 3: 5 pot up year 1: 6 year 2: 5 year 3: 4 pot up year 1: 5 year 2: 4 year 3: 3 pot up year 1: 4 year 2: 3 year 3: 2 pot up year 1: 3 year 2: 2 year 3: 1 This is a fairly accurate illustration of the influence tight roots have on a woody plant's growth/vitality. You might think of it for a moment in the context of the longevity of bonsai trees vs the life expectancy of most trees grown as houseplants, the difference between 4 years and 400 years, lying primarily in how the roots are treated.color> Good luck! Let me know if you would like more help. Al