Mid Summer Trim on a Willow Leaf Ficus

[Mellow Mullet]

Nothing fancy, just a good trim. I actually should have done it earlier, but real life has been keeping busy. This is what I started with. What do you think?

Thanks,

John

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Here is the finished product:

 

[Poink88]

Very healthy looking ficus. Are you ground layering it?

Re: trim, it seems not yet done. I mean the outer branches need to be a bit shorter now, esp the straight ones.

My willow leaf are also bushing out because I am letting them to bulk up a bit. Come time to trim them...it will be a whack job. For me there is no middle road on this, either do it or not.

Plant growth in general here in TX slowed down tremendously and will probably be case the rest of summer until it cools down. I usually avoid trimming around this time but I understand about "life" & schedule.

 

[KennedyMarx]

Nice tree. I'm with Dario, are you layering it? The thick middle branch should probably be cut back pretty hard or cut to a stub to get a new branch to sprout in that spot on the main trunk. It's a lot thicker than the branches below. If you cut it completely off you may not get a bud to pop there. My ficus seem to always want to make buds in crotches.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Yeah, I agree, the branches need to be shortened. I usually wait after I trim it hard to see where it tries to sprout, then I cut. I will probably finish defoliation too. Thanks for the input guys.

I am not ground layering it, just thickening the trunk and adding some roots around it. The trunk has almost doubled in size since last year. This particular tree has the most awful base so I am experimenting with it, I'll post the results when I finally pull all of the stuff off of it.

Most of my stuff has slowed down too, Dario. Except for the ficus and the serissa, they love the heat.


Thanks,

John

 

[jk_lewis]

I think I'd get rid of the pointy top. Not typical growth habit for these.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

It will be rounded more when it grows out.