Orlando Bonsai Ficus Too Little

Ficus "Too Little" (Purchased from Tom Brantley 2004) Orlando Bonsai Store
I just purchased this tree from Tom Brantley in Ocala. It's huge. The tree is about 34 years old (one of the ORIGINAL Too Littles)and the truck at the soil line is 12 inches. This one is a monster and I can't wait to get started on it. February 2004 By the end of Summer this tree was well on its way to a full recovery. Notice however the leaves on the left branch. They have reverted back to the full size leaves. Remember Ficus Too Little is a mutation and will at times revert back to its original tree type. I will remove that branch in time to grow one with smaller leaves. (August 2004) In March of 2006, Roy Nagatoshi was touring Florid. He held a workshop at our club and I thought this would be a great to to work on. As you can see the tree was shortened dramatically, but it solved a number of problems for this tree. Many scars we removed and the shape of the tree can finally be determined. The tree has put out a lot of new growth and has begun to fill in its new shape. I will just let it grow out this year and regain its health. Next year it will be styled. This one won't take long to finish. I think you can see the general shape at this point. It will be shorter and the left branch will need to put out more growth as well. Aug 2006 This tree has come a long way in 3 years. Once the canopy fills in this spring it will really be something special. I intend to move the apex slightly to the left once it has more growth, but for now you can see the basic outline of the finished tree. Also the bottom left branch needs to extend about 4 more inches. January 2007	Here is the tree after very hard pruning. It was shortened to about half of its original height and the knobs were cleaned off. Only a few very small branches were left so lets hope it makes it. March 2004 About a month went by and new growth has started. You can see how drastic a cut was made from the back shot. However the wound should heal up nicely. I finally took the time to sort through all the new growth branches. Wasn't easy but a lot to choose from. As you can see branches are sprouting out in all the right places. I need to clean up the large cut near the top to give it a better taper, but this tree should really take some shape this year. April 2005 As a side note: When I was sawing this tree to shorten it the saw slipped and cut into my hand. It needed six stitches to close the wound. I'll never forget the workshop. Mar 2006 I rewired this tree in order to get some control of all the new growth. I don't expect this tree to really have a defined shape until next summer. However I believe the basic outline can be seen at this stage. Sept 2006
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Case studies last updated: Jan. 2008