New to Bonsai..seeking advice on styling my new shop bought ficus retusa..

Phoebev

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Hi Bonsai people,

My husband bought me a ficus retusa bonsai in the hope of piquing my interest in this living art. It certainly has :) This is excellent as I was after a knowledge gaining hobby I can progress on, but I realise I'm going to need advise that searches on the net and looking in books aren't going to help me with! (The latter have suceeded in making me very frustrated indeed). I am not up on treeish terms so am describing in my own terms.
I am including some pics of my tree.
I am aware that shop bought trees are limited, but I want to learn with what I have.

*What I want to do is to cultivate the tree into a style resembling one of the the last two trees which I have posted.

Can you advise me also on the following on general pruning things??

-From reading it has been suggested that there should be roughly max four nodes to every twig, and two twigs to every branch to make the tree compacted? Is this true?

* If so what do I do with those branches that have a long branchy bit before the nodes begin? They look a bit ungainly no?

* Also the crown is very crowded with a bunch of twigs packed in tightly with alot of leaves, too many leaves? Too many twigs?

*Finally he has a big old pot, should he not be in a shallower one?? Is it possible to transfer him and moderate the rooting system or is it too late??

Many thanks for reading and any replies to my beginner queries would make me really happy.:eek:
 

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Cadillactaste

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Welcome to Bnut...first off...I am not familiar with the variety of your tree. But...it looks to my untrained eye...very good stock!

Your desire is Pom poms? That seems more topiary to me than bonsai...I could be wrong. It's your tree...but, if you desire Pom Pom...then...if it makes you happy...that is the main goal.

But do some google imagines of your tree in bonsai. It will give you some ideas of how ones do style for bonsai. In cascade any of those catch your eye as well.

As for topiary Pom poms...I was at a nursery that sold shapes you placed on trees and they grew and filled in and you just trimmed around the outside of those for shape. Curious if you might find something like that. Wiring branches can help you get a more spread out area where foliage currently is. Which may help achieve the look your after a bit sooner.

Topiary ball frame
http://www.amazon.com/Burgon-Ball-G...qid=1396263583&sr=8-26&keywords=topiary+balls
 

Phoebev

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Ok heres a new plan..

Ok thank you for replying and I have googled pics of my tree. Nothing spectactular, but these two images caught my eye..how would I be able to shape my tree so?
 

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Neli

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Hi Bonsai people,

My husband bought me a ficus retusa bonsai in the hope of piquing my interest in this living art. It certainly has :) This is excellent as I was after a knowledge gaining hobby I can progress on, but I realise I'm going to need advise that searches on the net and looking in books aren't going to help me with! (The latter have suceeded in making me very frustrated indeed). I am not up on treeish terms so am describing in my own terms.
I am including some pics of my tree.
I am aware that shop bought trees are limited, but I want to learn with what I have.

*What I want to do is to cultivate the tree into a style resembling one of the the last two trees which I have posted.

Can you advise me also on the following on general pruning things??

-From reading it has been suggested that there should be roughly max four nodes to every twig, and two twigs to every branch to make the tree compacted? Is this true?
I wonder where you found this nonsense, that is not true

* If so what do I do with those branches that have a long branchy bit before the nodes begin? They look a bit ungainly no?
Branches with long first internode are cut back

* Also the crown is very crowded with a bunch of twigs packed in tightly with alot of leaves, too many leaves? Too many twigs?
From a point where a branch comes out there should be only one branch...remove any extra branches coming from the same point.

*Finally he has a big old pot, should he not be in a shallower one?? Is it possible to transfer him and moderate the rooting system or is it too late??
That looks to me like Chinese production. Most trees from China come in very bad soil. I would advise to bareroot it, wash the soil off, do some root trimming if needed and plant in bonsai medium

Many thanks for reading and any replies to my beginner queries would make me really happy.:eek:
Most of this trees are grafted, of a different stock trunk. So keep that in mind.
There are many articles on branch development, I suggest You google that.
Google repotting also.
Start learning a bit every day and soon you will know the basics.
 

KennedyMarx

Omono
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Since you are in Norway this plant will have to stay indoors almost year round, since they can't take freezing temperatures. Supplemental lighting indoors is essential in my opinion. I would work on learning to keep it healthy and thriving before you worry about the styling. It will most likely drop some leaves while it adjusts to it's new living space. Foliage will be more sparse growing indoors than outside.

If you want to go for one of those examples let it grow those branches in the same spots. They will lengthen and thicken, then you cut them back to a node or two. Repeat and it will start creating foliage pads. That's the short version, but there's more depth to it than that. You can find lot of styling advice online. One of my favorite sites is www.bonsai4me.com
 
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