Today, I’m going to be working on my Ficus microcarpa, the one I call plane – or maybe I should call it plain Jane this summer at the end of July.

I repotted this tree and I took the big plunge and I got rid of all my bulbous Roots underneath. So I did a big sock cut on the bottom of this tree and got the root system kind of sorted out for the first time since I’ve had this tree, I got even a a good root pruning and you can see it’s recovered now.

The tree is growing. Here is a look at the top of the tree, so you can see how much the canopy has grown since it was last repotted. So it’s doing really well, it’s recovered. It’S enjoying life in its new pot, new soil, with its new kind of root system.

So today I’m going to be pruning. The canopy up my intended style for this tree is to style it like the home tree in the movie Avatar. So, with a kind of a large massive flat canopy and a thick tapered trunk, so it’s slowly getting there.

I, I think, it’ll be a an interesting tree in the future down here at the root base. There’S a few roots that I’m not really happy with. I, like all these roots up front. I don’t like this root hanging in space here, there’s another one at the back here that could maybe be removed.

Maybe these two, and maybe even this one, it’s kind of not the greatest looking Roots. I kind of like that kind of flowing smooth look going into the soil. That’S why this tree is called plane because it doesn’t have fancy aerial Roots.

It has a simple kind of tapered trunk. Nothing too, fancy about it at all. The Styling of this tree is very similar to my flat, topped Acacia style cerissa, so the development of this canopy bowls be very similar to that.

So I’m going to start today by looking down at the tree and pruning the canopy to a big oval kind of getting all those long shoots that are sticking out of the profile back in check. I have the tree on the floor, so I can get above it now and look down.

So you can see this shoot is really long out here. It’S sticking way out of the oval shape profile, there’s a few other shoots that are getting really long too. Now, if you do grow the shoots long on these Ficus, they will naturally droop you get some weight to the branches and they’ll kind of hang down more or you know you can keep pruning them to downward facing branches and get them to weep that way or Use a combination of both all right, I’m going to begin the pruning of the oval shape.

So I don’t want it to kind of loose and floppy. I want to bring it back a little tighter and you know every year slowly grow the canopy out to size. So I don’t want a giant oval. I want to bring it back in something a little more compact, so here I go.

I’M going to start. Where am I going to start right here and I’m pruning to downward facing leaves? If I can so this one could probably that one is a downward facing Leaf, but I could come back shorter, maybe to here I do have to fit a lot of trees in my plant room.

So if I can make this a little more compact it’ll be better more practical for me and I’m going to start kind of wide and doing it once here’s a Long Branch coming out here and here over here too this one’s super long here getting there.

I’M still long over here a bit more hard pruning there. So that’s getting it nice. I’Ve got an oval shape here. It’S brought in compact. You know my branches aren’t too long. It’S quite reasonable. I think that’s it for the top view.

I think we should switch to the front view and see how it looks. Here’S a look at the tree from the front now it looks pretty good. Actually nice kind of rounded canopy, it’s maybe a little too rounded.

I would like it a little flatter, so I’m going to do a bit of pruning up top now all right here I go with the pruning up top so yeah. I wanted a bit of a flatter canopy. I don’t want it too rounded, and it’s getting kind of rounded, so I’m going to do some pruning.

Removing some of these shoots, sticking out vertically putting them back to more horizontal or drooping, leaves in an effort to keep my branches flatter prune it and it doesn’t have white come out the end.

You know it’s a dead branch, no sap coming out of there. So it’s a dead branch, so I’ve got to prune it way back. That’S why it sprouted all from the base here, because that whole upper part die. Now that does have some white sap, so it must be living somewhere, not there taking it back, no still not living.

I must have to take it right back there it’s living there. Now I got ta sort this out, there’s so many branches coming from one spot here that one growing back in on the tree. I don’t need the one growing up vertically I’ll, keep these two, and maybe this one actually do.

I need this one going vertical. I don’t think so. If I got these two here yeah there we go and this one’s kind of I’m going to redirect it. I got ta shoot here or a leaf here, so I can redirect this Branch out to the front Dot and this one I’ll just put it off that kind of sorts that area out.

So here’s one going back that one’s no good it’s going back in towards the tree. I’Ve got a stub here. I can remove bump here flatten this one out taking the tip off there old Leaf. Here I can remove this branch is kind of growing underneath this one, this one kind of goes over towards this one.

I think you know the radial direction for this branch is here. I could take this one off. I think I have to for the future this one could come off on the inside here um. I need something up the middle, and this is my middle Branch here.

So I’m keeping that, but it doesn’t mean it has to be really really tall, either shorten it. A bit um, maybe even more yeah, so I still have two branches overlap here. I don’t like that. Can I take that one off.

Let me see it from the front. Yes, this one can come off. It looks too congested as a primary branch clean that basic structure out a bit. It’S getting there, it’s still a little high in the middle in this branch um.

Could I take that one off? Yes, I definitely could I’m going to take this upper part off. Quite a thick branch reduces this Branch down in height, helps kind of flatten the canopy a bit, and then this one well, I could shorten it today.

I can shorten this one, and I can take this one off to here that kind of flattens the canopy out. Quite a bit probably a bit too much, but this will grow because it’s vertical it’ll, it’s got good light in the middle here.

It’Ll grow and kind of round itself out again got a branch here that crosses. I don’t need that one, and then I’ve got this Branch here is growing over top of this one right over top of it, which isn’t good, I’m going to shorten this part redirect it out in between here there’s a branch.

Here, that’s got to be removed. It’S going towards another and then there’s one growing underneath here that doesn’t need to be there. It’S a new shoot. So I think you know there’s a bit of overlapping here, but it’s not too bad.

I could shorten this a bit just looking at the basic structure. Now making sure things are going well, I guess this branch is kind of not the greatest um. Yet from the front it looks pretty good yeah I’ll leave it I’ll leave it.

I think I think that one’s okay boy, it’s suddenly getting dark out. I uh it’s like it’s Friday today and I my video from last night. I went to the Bonsai meeting, so I didn’t get time to finish the editing of it last night.

So I did that today and premiered the video, so I’m getting out here kind of late is what I’m saying and starting to get dark. Luckily, I think I have the pruning done. Let’S have a look at it from the front now see what’s left and how it looks.

There is a look at the tree from the front, so you can see it’s very very flat on top, so it could do with a bit of rounding in the future. It’S like, I said these shoots in the middle will grow more quickly than the ones that are going more horizontal.

So you get a rounded canopy eventually so that I think the basic structure is looking pretty good. I mean, as more branches grow in I’ll have more to pick more to pick and choose from, and I may you know some of these primary Branch structure here may be altered in the future.

Always you know looking for better and better branches and removing the ones that aren’t so nice so, but I think the basic structure is looking very nice and flowing so let’s go down and look at the roots.

Now, here’s a look at the root system from the front, so it looks quite nice. It’S very uniform, constant style, but then I get out here and I’ve got this one hanging in space and I’m not liking it yeah.

So I think a lot of these roots will come off these kind of ones, sticking out creating. I don’t want this. This flare at the base of the tree getting too wide. I want it. You know still to look like a tree, not this big tapered monster.

So yeah, if I can get rid of that, I think that’ll look better um. I wonder if I should do that one now, because it does really bother me from the front view. I think I will. I think I’m going to get rid of it now and we’ll see what happens.

It’S feeding a live vein up the tree, but there’s no branches down low, so I don’t expect you know anything to die off or anything Ficus are pretty tough trees. So here I go, I’m going to cut into the root, removing it severance like that.

I’M going to going to try and pull it out of the soil, and this will be a good indication of how the roots have gone grown, how they’re doing and how they have grown since the last time I repotted it and so far I’m happy with what I see is that there’s a lot a lot of fine roots coming off of it, so you can see the root.

I just pulled a drainage screen out with it. Oh, my goodness, okay is my soil all going to come up the bottom. Yes, it is! Oh, no! Oh! No, that’s silly! That is a good reason why you should tie your drainage screens in I guess or stick them down.

I didn’t expect the drainage screen to come up, so I’m going to have to dig down there and cover that hole back up with my drainage screen. Somehow, oh, my goodness, what a mess I’ve got myself into here! Okay, the screen has covered it up once again.

I’M going to put my soil back in place here. Okay, that’s better! Now I’ve got to finish off this root carving here, getting it kind of flush. This one is definitely going to have to come off too, but I think I’ll just work on carving this from one flush.

First, you know that wasn’t the greatest work there was it it’s kind of peeling. My bark away switch tools, get my little mini nibblers out. So a scar like this, you know it’s a pretty big cut it it’ll it’ll, heal it’ll, take a little while, but it’ll definitely heal.

Thank you. So it looks like I think. No, maybe not I’m saying. Maybe this root is kind of feeding. This live vein, but I don’t think it is this one’s kind of on top of here. I’M going to peel it back even further.

Come right up here, it’s getting better just got ta kind of get the Jaws in there and okay. I think that is good. I I think that will recover quite nicely heal it’s kind of it’s kind of towards the back, so it’s not as important.

Now, let’s see what it looks like from the front now, oh much nicer! Now you can see the trunk flares down into this root knot that one’s sticking out at the back. So I like that much much much more, the other one.

You can see it a bit the one I want to remove eventually, but it’s not quite as obnoxious. A root from the front view definitely has to come off, though quite a bit of work to my avatar inspired Ficus microcarpa, the one I call plain Plain, Jane: let’s fly in now and take a final look at the tree to next summer, when this tree will begin filling out and getting finer and finer branching it’ll be exciting.