Pruning question for Willow Leaf Ficus

[swatchpost]

Hello everyone! I have a general pruning question for my willow leaf ficus. Over the weekend I did a restyle on the tree and cut back fairly hard in places. The tree is healthy and has already begun to show some new buds further back on the branches. What I need to do is cut back some of the existing leggy branches to the new back-buds on the same branch.

Question: at what point can I cut back to that bud? Do I need to wait until the bud opens and leaves are forming, or can I just cut back when a bud forms?

Many thanks for your input!
Yusef

 

[penumbra]

You can do it now or you can wait, but my experience is to do it now and redirect that plant energy into the new buds you want to develop. Just remember there are no guarantees, the plant will not always agree with your decision.

 

[swatchpost]

You can do it now or you can wait, but my experience is to do it now and redirect that plant energy into the new buds you want to develop. Just remember there are no guarantees, the plant will not always agree with your decision.

Gotcha, thanks. Seems like I need to sit down with it and have an understanding

 

[penumbra]

Gotcha, thanks. Seems like I need to sit down with it and have an understanding

When all else fails............
.............and sometimes when it might do so.

 

[nuttiest]

If I cut mine too hard they throw a carrot tantrum. Ruins a tamed nebari.

 

[hampton]

I was asking myself the same question earlier today.

Mirai just released a Ficus primer - I haven’t had a chance to watch the whole thing but it does look to address this specifically.

That said I was poking around and found a great thread by markyscott - very informative and, I think, a very pretty tree.

Best of luck - I’m planning to do this work over the weekend

Zak

 

[Shibui]

Some ficus species react to pruning differently so try not to generalize between species.
Some will sprout new shoots whatever you do while others are less resilient. Sometimes cutting back hard to very small buds can cause the tree to give up on that branch, especially if there's strong growth above.
If in doubt, reduce slowly. Keep strong outer and upper shoots trimmed and controlled so the new, inner buds get a chance to grow then prune back when the desired new bud is growing well. takes a year but chances of success are much, much higher.

 

[swatchpost]

hat said I was poking around and found a great thread by markyscott

Yep! I've been a watcher of that thread for a long time. Too bad the tree is sold, so no updates ever again. But great instruction while it lasted on a beautiful tree.

I think the slow and steady advice is a good idea. Thanks everyone!

 

[swatchpost]

I was asking myself the same question earlier today.

Mirai just released a Ficus primer - I haven’t had a chance to watch the whole thing but it does look to address this specifically.

That said I was poking around and found a great thread by markyscott - very informative and, I think, a very pretty tree.

Best of luck - I’m planning to do this work over the weekend

Zak

I've looked for this ficus primer by Mirai you mentioned, but couldn't find it. Do you have a link? Thanks!

 

[sorce]

I think you're more likely to get short internodes if that new growth isn't trying to reach out through old sticks.
So I'd say the sooner the better.

Then when your confidence is built (aka prior care on point) you don't have to do a safety cut, just go hard at first.

Guess it depends on how busy it is.

Pics!

Sorce

 

[swatchpost]

I think you're more likely to get short internodes if that new growth isn't trying to reach out through old sticks.
So I'd say the sooner the better.

Then when your confidence is built (aka prior care on point) you don't have to do a safety cut, just go hard at first.

Guess it depends on how busy it is.

Pics!

Sorce

Hey Sorce, always happy to see when you reply
It's just beginning to form some nice buds further back on the branches.

There's a thread that I started about a year ago about design changes to my willow leaf that I was going to update with pics (this is the same tree as this post). I did a complete re-design last weekend including a whole new front that I'm very pleased with. It's now time to start on the ramification because it's quite sparse at the moment. I'll post a pic here though, too.

 

[sorce]

I'd be letting it grow out, then taking off the larger of the first forks, and everything beyond the first leaf on the little leg, to promote buds off of the first segment. To regenerate entirely new first forks, build that taper in.



And if you have or can graft a branch to fill this whole on the left, I'd like to see you get rid of these eventually, with a future of trying to remove that short straight up stun, as I think there is like a 10% chance just growing is going to make that look better.



Truth....

If one branch grew relatively straight up off the fat trunk just above the first branch, I'd probably cut back to it and taper that whole trunk differently, to more match the squat taper of the other.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Hell....

Truth....

If one branch grew relatively straight up off the fat trunk just above the first branch, I'd probably cut back to it and taper that whole trunk differently, to more match the squat taper of the other.

This may be the move.



Sorce