Orlando Bonsai » Ficus “Too Little” http://www.orlandobonsai.com This site is for the sole purpose of presenting and recording the slow transition of nursery stock and pre-bonsai into developed Bonsai. Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:24:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Remember me??? http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=1408 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=1408#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 23:09:26 +0000 Paul Pikel http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=1408 The last time I did any work on this tree was January 21, 2007!  

Ficus Too Little styled 1-21-07

So here we are 3 1/2 years later , and boy has this tree changed.

Wild growth Too Little

What happened?  Well I found out that Too Littles not neccesarily like to be bonsai.  Their leaves are small and the trees pop out new growth everywhere.  However their branches have a tendency to continually move upright after the styling wires have been removed. Which meant that it was a high maintenance job keeping the tree styled as I had it. So I took it to a nursery for the past 3 years to let it grow and to thicken up even more.

Surface root - before

Another problem with the tree was a very odd one sided surface root, that had always bothered me.

 

Huge Too Little Ficus Bonsai

After a bit of thinking and a lot of heavy pruning I began to find a new tree under a mass of branches and leaves. Best of all a maintainable style. I plan to keep the branches short and dense, so I won’t have any problems with branches bending back.  Just look how massive the trunk looks compared to the styling from years ago

Surfact root reduced

My new tree front was the old back, and the long surface root has been reduced and now shows on the right side of the trunk. I am so happy with this tree now, it is quickly becoming one of my favorites!!


]]> http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=1408 0 Worth the pain http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=247 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=247#comments Sun, 21 Jan 2007 19:20:36 +0000 Paul Pikel http://orlandobonsai.com/blog/?p=235
This tree has come a long way in 3 years. Once the canopy fills in this spring it will really be something special. I intend to move the apex slightly to the left once it has more growth, but for now you can see the basic outline of the finished tree. Also the bottom left branch needs to extend about 4 more inches. January 2007


]]> http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=247 0 Rewired http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=244 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=244#comments Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:19:26 +0000 Paul Pikel http://orlandobonsai.com/blog/?p=232

I rewired this tree in order to get some control of all the new growth. I don’t expect this tree to really have a defined shape until next summer. However I believe the basic outline can be seen at this stage. Sept 2006


]]> http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=244 0 Leafing out http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=241 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=241#comments Mon, 21 Aug 2006 19:17:55 +0000 Paul Pikel http://orlandobonsai.com/blog/?p=229

The tree has put out a lot of new growth and has begun to fill in its new shape. I will just let it grow out this year and regain its health. Next year it will be styled. This one won’t take long to finish. I think you can see the general shape at this point. It will be shorter and the left branch will need to put out more growth as well. Aug 2006


]]> http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?feed=rss2&p=241 0 Hand saw and sawed hand! http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=238 http://www.orlandobonsai.com/?p=238#comments Thu, 16 Mar 2006 19:16:31 +0000 Paul Pikel http://orlandobonsai.com/blog/?p=225

March of 2006, Roy Nagatoshi was touring Florid. He held a workshop at our club and I thought this would be a great to to work on. As you can see the tree was shortened dramatically, but it solved a number of problems for this tree. Many scars we removed and the shape of the tree can finally be determined.


As a side note: When I was sawing this tree to shorten it the saw slipped and cut into my hand. It needed six stitches to close the wound. I’ll never forget the workshop. Mar 2006


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