This tree would make an excellent Halloween tree. With that cut it looks like it has one eye, like a cyclops, and the arms of a crawling land octopus. Cool! Watching your thought process on changing this tree into a swan.
Hi Nigel. When I have to clean leaves I use one of those stamp licker things. The tube with a triangular sponge on the end and filled with water. It kinda works.
Lovely work Nigel. I have just had a look at my Tigerbarks and realised I now have to hit them hard with soap and water - loads of honeydew on the leaves. YUK!!!
Wow - huge styling changes!! That’s great! Make it into a tree that you love or let it die trying! It will be much better for the work you’ve done today.
That's better Nigel. Looking at your final shots of the tree, with a few cobwebs and those creepy 'Mango swamp' aerial roots and previous gnarly looking big cuts & maybe put into a graveyard scene, it would make a really good Halloween bonsai! 😀😀
Hi Nigel I wonder if you might compare your small/folding-leaf trees (Brazilian Rain Tree, Monkey Ear Trees, etc.) and rank their suitability for bonsai?
One good thing about this time of year is that it is easy to get water. You say something about draining it if the weather gets too cold. I understand what you are doing. If the water freezes you don't want the container to burst. However if there is expected only a short period of cold weather, it may still be okay. Water has a huge thermal mass. it will stay warm for quite a while even when the air is cold. this is why many places that have snow and frost in the winter still cannot ice skate. the water doesn't freeze in large masses like ponds and lakes.
What about turning the front more to the left somewhere in order to hide the zig-zag movement of the trunk? Maybe you like it more then. I personally had a benjamina and was never happy with it. Difficult backbudding was a major problem for me. I decided to focus on the trees a love and put it on the compost. I never regreted that decision.
5:33 Change the front to this, and severly cut maybe? That would make it exciting to work on. It would look like a person, with the major scar as the head and the canopee as green hair. The areal roots are then gorilla arms touching the ground.
41000000 views in under 10 years is a ridiculous high amount of views for a non-asian bonsai channel which is founded and run by a SINGLE man. Congrats.
I bet it feels better now! Be all airy! My Ficus B are giving me a scare. My favourite one suddenly started dying. I've never seen anything like that happen before. The new growth looks good but the branch dies and then the nice new growth dies. Wilts off. I'm not sure how to fix it. It happened seemingly overnight. My next step I think I'll repot it.
Ficus easily get root fungus, check that, while repoting. My huge ficus, that i brought from my sons school died because of that. Upper growth seemed OK, but branches started to die off.
Had the Same Thing with at least 4 trees this year. Repotting didnt Help. They were vigorous and growing Well than the new shoots Turn Brown and died Off and soon the whole tree died.
On my very large ficus the leaves are yellowing and falling off daily since I brought it inside for the Winter. Never happened to this tree before. I've just put it under the grow light in hopes it will help. Trees took a beating during last year's very gray Winter but never like this and it's early.
Personally I would have removed the two big stems on the top the “canopy” as you call it and the left thick stem and only keep the thin branches coming out of the old trunk at top.
IMO the aerial roots at the bottom are fattening up the middle of the tree too much, and interfering with the flow. Also the lowest branches don't feel right because they're right on the outside of a curve and then extent too far away. The top canopy is nice though. I would either remove the aerial roots and lower branches and keep developing the top, eventually moving in the direction of literati style where the varying trunk thicknesses could become a feature. Or maybe the opposite, remove everything _but_ the lower branches and then develop them into a cascade which they seem eager to do! In general though I think it needs something radical. Just my thoughts though, love your approach and aesthetic!
I love it's "droopy and angular". Lol That's a part of it's character and charm.
I like this tree all trimmed up
This tree would make an excellent Halloween tree. With that cut it looks like it has one eye, like a cyclops, and the arms of a crawling land octopus. Cool! Watching your thought process on changing this tree into a swan.
Love the Monkey face at the top of the stump with his long long arms !!!!
Nice pruning and clean up. I hope it's more vigorous now!
I like your attack pruning this ugly duckling. With this pruning I see a swan in the future. Excellent!!!
I must say...It's quite soothing listening to the rain on the greenhouse.
Nice work on the Ficus Nigel.
Thank you.
Hi Nigel. When I have to clean leaves I use one of those stamp licker things. The tube with a triangular sponge on the end and filled with water. It kinda works.
Nice
Lovely work Nigel. I have just had a look at my Tigerbarks and realised I now have to hit them hard with soap and water - loads of honeydew on the leaves. YUK!!!
🤮
Wow - huge styling changes!! That’s great! Make it into a tree that you love or let it die trying! It will be much better for the work you’ve done today.
Happy Holidays Niguel thanks for all the great videos. Cheers from Ojai California
That's better Nigel. Looking at your final shots of the tree, with a few cobwebs and those creepy 'Mango swamp' aerial roots and previous gnarly looking big cuts & maybe put into a graveyard scene, it would make a really good Halloween bonsai! 😀😀
Hi Nigel I wonder if you might compare your small/folding-leaf trees (Brazilian Rain Tree, Monkey Ear Trees, etc.) and rank their suitability for bonsai?
One good thing about this time of year is that it is easy to get water. You say something about draining it if the weather gets too cold. I understand what you are doing. If the water freezes you don't want the container to burst. However if there is expected only a short period of cold weather, it may still be okay. Water has a huge thermal mass. it will stay warm for quite a while even when the air is cold. this is why many places that have snow and frost in the winter still cannot ice skate. the water doesn't freeze in large masses like ponds and lakes.
👍👌👌
Beautiful
I used in spray bottle soap and 1/2 tsp olive oil. Makes it shine and the oil repels pests.
What about turning the front more to the left somewhere in order to hide the zig-zag movement of the trunk? Maybe you like it more then.
I personally had a benjamina and was never happy with it. Difficult backbudding was a major problem for me. I decided to focus on the trees a love and put it on the compost. I never regreted that decision.
5:33 Change the front to this, and severly cut maybe?
That would make it exciting to work on.
It would look like a person, with the major scar as the head and the canopee as green hair. The areal roots are then gorilla arms touching the ground.
You coil turn the tree ten degrees clockwise and tilt about 15 degrees to the front when repotting it. Would be beneficial to the trunk line I think.
Hoping for updates in the next video
Its got a TreeBeard kind of look...shades of lords of the ring...
41000000 views in under 10 years is a ridiculous high amount of views for a non-asian bonsai channel which is founded and run by a SINGLE man. Congrats.
Thanks to all of you!!!!!
I bet it feels better now! Be all airy! My Ficus B are giving me a scare. My favourite one suddenly started dying. I've never seen anything like that happen before. The new growth looks good but the branch dies and then the nice new growth dies. Wilts off. I'm not sure how to fix it. It happened seemingly overnight. My next step I think I'll repot it.
Ficus easily get root fungus, check that, while repoting. My huge ficus, that i brought from my sons school died because of that. Upper growth seemed OK, but branches started to die off.
Had the Same Thing with at least 4 trees this year. Repotting didnt Help. They were vigorous and growing Well than the new shoots Turn Brown and died Off and soon the whole tree died.
On my very large ficus the leaves are yellowing and falling off daily since I brought it inside for the Winter. Never happened to this tree before. I've just put it under the grow light in hopes it will help. Trees took a beating during last year's very gray Winter but never like this and it's early.
@@PolinaS-gq1te Thank you! I will repot as soon as I can!
@@flopeter2232 Hopefully it's not going to spread. Thank you for the info.
Nigel It's looking beautiful aerial root base benjamina ficus, what about the age from New Creation Nepal 🇳🇵.
This species generally grows reverse tapering.
Maybe , you can lead the hanging branch on the right , into the soil
Personally I would have removed the two big stems on the top the “canopy” as you call it and the left thick stem and only keep the thin branches coming out of the old trunk at top.
A good possibility!!!
IMO the aerial roots at the bottom are fattening up the middle of the tree too much, and interfering with the flow. Also the lowest branches don't feel right because they're right on the outside of a curve and then extent too far away. The top canopy is nice though. I would either remove the aerial roots and lower branches and keep developing the top, eventually moving in the direction of literati style where the varying trunk thicknesses could become a feature. Or maybe the opposite, remove everything _but_ the lower branches and then develop them into a cascade which they seem eager to do! In general though I think it needs something radical. Just my thoughts though, love your approach and aesthetic!
Foist
Too Fast
Not foist.
Just give the tree away. Do some character pruning on yourself. Somebody else will love that tree more.