Willow leaf ficus: What to do after it’s grown back in

I’m early and I’m sitting in the parking lot.
The gate is locked.

I’m at the Brevard Bonsai Society’s Annual Zoo Show at the Brevard Zoo.
Might as well do something productive.
A willow leaf ficus I brought along just for this occasion.

I worked on it maybe a month ago, but I didn’t blog about it, so this is the first time you’ve seen it.
At least I think so. I might have posted it on various social media platforms.
It’s gotten somewhat shaggy since I’ve worked on it, as to be expected.

After an initial styling (or even the second or third styling) I will let the tree run wild to regain strength after the brutal beating I just gave it.

Time for some more, should I say, gentler discipline.
First, I remove the wire…..uh oh, do I have any wire? Tools?
I left all my stuff in my booth, behind that locked gate.
Good thing I keep a spare set of tools in my car (What?! You don’t?)

But, I don’t have wire…..except for what I take off, I’ll have to be creative.
I need a work surface.

Too high, maybe on the hood…..

Spectacular, they choose this time to turn on the sprinklers.
I know, in the back.

That works.
I get the old wires off.

I’ll need more though, I found these strewn about my van.

It’s not enough.
Let me prune, maybe someone will show up in the meantime.
Some establishing shots.

You may be thinking,” Wow, where do I start?”
This is the easy part. Start at your basic lessons.
Any branch growing down, up, or in the crotch of a branch, prune off.
Any place there are multiple shoots from one spot, keep the strongest one and prune out the rest.
With this tree, that’s a lot.

That leaves us (get it, leaves…leaf) with this.

Then a quick shaping for branch length.

Now it’s time to wire, but I need some #1 wire desperately….wait, the box I’m using, I think I have some in there from the New Orleans trip.

Yes! Back in business!
Before wire.

After.

And I work my way up to the top of the tree where I have the bent over apex I use when doing an initial styling.

It’s called the “Puerto Rican Top”.

Basically, you bend over the apex and turn it into a side branch and use a side branch as the new “apex”.
It accomplishes three things: one, it enhances taper because you’re obviously going from thick to thin, you are putting movement into the tree and, it fills in the top so that the tree looks more developed after the styling. This last helps when you bring the tree home after a meeting and your wife sees it. She is less likely to say “You payed how much for that stick?!?”
But it is a temporary solution.
The next step is to start cutting it back for taper.

Almost done….
Wait! The gates are open!

Finally, I really have to take a….um, I have to perform my daily constitutional.
Let me load up here and I’ll be back to the tree in a second.

Oh! Lookie here, it’s my demo tree for the afternoon show.

It’s a ficus phillipenensis…what could I possibly do to it?
Man, I gotta go……..…………………………………………………..
Ok, I’m back.
Where was I?
Ah, my booth.

And the ficus salicaria.

I’ve left this one branch in the back.

I’ll sometimes have my “number one branch” be a back branch just to annoy people.
I don’t think I need it here though.
Are you ready?
Here it is…
Top

Side

Side

And the front.

Not bad. People at the show kept bugging me because they wanted to buy it.
It’s not for sale yet, sorry.
And you’re wondering about that demo tree, the phillipenensis, right?
It’s on my Facebook page- Adam’s Art and Bonsai Studio Nursery.
Go check it out.
And make sure you check out the zoo show next year, the club is filled with great people with awesome trees.
See ya’.