Curious and clueless custodian of a tree

[Basik]

Hello

I'm a new member and very new to bonsai. I actually have almost no formal experience, and my only other bonsai is a root-over-rock style that I also attempted with no prior experience! I've now become the custodian of this Ficus bonsai, which is part of a historic collection with a lineage that dates back to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone, making it incredibly special to me.
I recently repotted it about 4 months ago and just completed a full defoliation today to encourage smaller leaves and back-branching. I also spent about a week carefully cleaning years of neglect off the trunk and roots with a toothbrush, exposing its magnificent surface roots (it was grown from seed, so it even had a tap root!). I've been gently bending branches by hand to start shaping it.

I know it looks quite bare now, but I'm aiming for a refined look where you can really appreciate the old wood and bark, rather than a dense canopy. I also noticed the trunk has a restricted area just before the first main branch, which I found fascinating.

It's been quite a journey already, and I'm very excited to learn more from this community. Any insights or advice on caring for an older Ficus, especially given its recent work, would be greatly appreciated
!
Thanks in advance

 

[Attmos]

Nice tree. I wish I could help.

 

[rockm]

It’s basically a mess at this point. This requires a lot of work. Sorry to be so blunt. But if you really want the tree to flourish you need to learn bonsai care and quickly

Roots are a tangled jumble that need sorting out among other issues
First and foremost the tree is not healthy at all and in questionable soil

What species of tree is this? A lot depends on identifying it.

 

[APalmieri97]

Hello

I'm a new member and very new to bonsai. I actually have almost no formal experience, and my only other bonsai is a root-over-rock style that I also attempted with no prior experience! I've now become the custodian of this Ficus bonsai, which is part of a historic collection with a lineage that dates back to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone, making it incredibly special to me.
I recently repotted it about 4 months ago and just completed a full defoliation today to encourage smaller leaves and back-branching. I also spent about a week carefully cleaning years of neglect off the trunk and roots with a toothbrush, exposing its magnificent surface roots (it was grown from seed, so it even had a tap root!). I've been gently bending branches by hand to start shaping it.

I know it looks quite bare now, but I'm aiming for a refined look where you can really appreciate the old wood and bark, rather than a dense canopy. I also noticed the trunk has a restricted area just before the first main branch, which I found fascinating.

It's been quite a journey already, and I'm very excited to learn more from this community. Any insights or advice on caring for an older Ficus, especially given its recent work, would be greatly appreciated
!
Thanks in advance

It’s basically a mess at this point. This requires a lot of work. Sorry to be so blunt. But if you really want the tree to flourish you need to learn bonsai care and quickly

Roots are a tangled jumble that need sorting out among other issues
First and foremost the tree is not healthy at all and in questionable soil

What species of tree is this? A lot depends on identifying it.

I love the way the root system twists and gnarls all around. Very cool!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Who the hell is Dr. Atherstone?

Rockm is right. Needs some serious care. Where are you located and when was the repot done? Do you know what type of ficus it is? Was it growing vigorously before the defoliation? What soil is it in? What is your watering/fertilization regimen?

 

[rockm]

Who the hell is Dr. Atherstone?

Rockm is right. Needs some serious care. Where are you located and when was the repot done? Do you know what type of ficus it is? Was it growing vigorously before the defoliation? What soil is it in? What is your watering/fertilization regimen?

Being a colonial, I Had to look him up.

William Guybon Atherstone - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[rockm]

I love the way the root system twists and gnarls all around. Very cool!

It is definitely not cool if you’re the tree. Thick looping roots like that are an indication the tree has a long history of neglect. They’re the result of looping and looping around the inside of the container the tree was in. Thick roots like that also not productive since the feeder roots are their ends. Sooner or later if they re not pruned and repotted they crowd out productive roots and the tree declines. That is evident here

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Apparently bonsai was not his forte. lol

 

[oranjeaap]

Don't forget Bonsai is a very particular niche. Most people that keep plants and trees in pots would would not identify their hobby as Bonsai, for them they are just plants in a pot. Clearly this ficus was kept as a tree in a pot and not as a Bonsai. No need to roast poor Mr Atherstone and those that came after him for doing a poor Bonsai job because they had probably never even heard of the word.

Should you insist to go the Bonsai way with this tree then expect the knowledgeable people here will likely suggest some rigorous changes to this tree that will probably make you feel uncomfortable. If you are up for that I guess you can eventually make a nice Ficus Bonsai out of this tree.

 

[leatherback]

part of a historic collection with a lineage that dates back to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone, making it incredibly special to me.

Being a colonial, I Had to look him up.

Died	26 March 1898

This suggests that this tree is at least 130 years old?
Sorry, but in no way is this tree that old. It is more likely 15-30 years old, depending on the sort of care given.
Even in a small pot ficus fattens up considerably.

 

[Cajunrider]

The lineage of the tree makes it special to you. We get it and will help you turn this into a good bonsai over time. That said, right now the tree is far from a bonsai that needs to be trained for a refined look. I would suggest the following in the presented order.

1. Work on the root: Get the tree out of the training box, prune all the circling roots to the point where they are not circling. Arrange the roots radially and put it back to the training box with good bonsai soil. With the current status of the tree, this likely is a make it or kill it step. Keep the tree in a spot with only a few hours of morning sun every day until it recovers and starts growing well again. This step will take until next spring. Good thing it is a ficus that is very resilient. By the way, beside the lineage, the tree is honestly not worth much and really not that old so I suggest you go for it.
2. Shape the trunk: Once the tree is growing well, it will be time to work on shaping the trunk. This is the time when good chunk of the trunk will be chopped to reshape the tree into bonsai. Come back here and ask when you are at this step. We will help you. With ficus, you can actually use the cuttings from the chop to propagate the trees and extend the lineage of the tree.
3. Shaping the top: When the trunk starts to sprout new branches, it is time to wire them in the shape you want. The branches will be shaped from the trunk out to the tip. Each time you wire, you are really working on only a few inches going outward because those branches will be cut short over and over to develop ramifications. This is also likely the time when you should consider taking the tree out of the training pot and into a bonsai pot.
4. Repotting the tree: While I list this as step 4, repotting is done every few years to keep the tree healthy. BTW, if you live in a climate zone colder than 9B, you will need to have winter protection for this tree.

For each of the steps above there is a great deal of details that you need to know. Start researching and find out more about bonsai. There is a bit of soul searching here to see whether you really want to go over the deep end and be a bonsai nut like us.

 

[Michael P]

Died	26 March 1898

This suggests that this tree is at least 130 years old?
Sorry, but in no way is this tree that old. It is more likely 15-30 years old, depending on the sort of care given.
Even in a small pot ficus fattens up considerably.

Ficus fraud?

 

[Cajunrider]

Ficus fraud?

The claim was lineage and notactual tree.

 

[rockm]

Probably from a seed or cutting from original plants is my guess

 

[leatherback]

The claim was lineage and notactual tree.

seed then, as it was said it was seed grown.
Never knew people cared where seed came from

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Don't forget Bonsai is a very particular niche. Most people that keep plants and trees in pots would would not identify their hobby as Bonsai, for them they are just plants in a pot. Clearly this ficus was kept as a tree in a pot and not as a Bonsai. No need to roast poor Mr Atherstone and those that came after him for doing a poor Bonsai job because they had probably never even heard of the word.

Should you insist to go the Bonsai way with this tree then expect the knowledgeable people here will likely suggest some rigorous changes to this tree that will probably make you feel uncomfortable. If you are up for that I guess you can eventually make a nice Ficus Bonsai out of this tree.

It is not healthy first and foremost, so bonsai or not, it was not in good care before coming into the hands of the OP.

Lets get it healthy first and then if it becomes a bonsai or a houseplant, it doesnt matter - a living tree is better than a dead tree.

(Especially one from the lineage of the esteemed Mr. Atherstone the Great)

 

[Basik]

The claim was lineage and notactual tree.

Thank you.

 

[Basik]

Probably from a seed or cutting from original plants is my guess

No it's just from a very good family of Botanists and Horticulturists they still are. Well over 40, has a tap root. Jim

It is not healthy first and foremost, so bonsai or not, it was not in good care before coming into the hands of the OP.

Lets get it healthy first and then if it becomes a bonsai or a houseplant, it doesnt matter - a living tree is better than a dead tree.

(Especially one from the lineage of the esteemed Mr. Atherstone the Great)

 

[Basik]

I think it's close to

Died	26 March 1898

This suggests that this tree is at least 130 years old?
Sorry, but in no way is this tree that old. It is more likely 15-30 years old, depending on the sort of care given.
Even in a small pot ficus fattens up considerably.

40 plus minus. It was restricted and among other bonsais I've had it since December.

 

[Basik]

It is not healthy first and foremost, so bonsai or not, it was not in good care before coming into the hands of the OP.

Lets get it healthy first and then if it becomes a bonsai or a houseplant, it doesnt matter - a living tree is better than a dead tree.

(Especially one from the lineage of the esteemed Mr. Atherstone the Great)

It is not healthy first and foremost, so bonsai or not, it was not in good care before coming into the hands of the OP.

Lets get it healthy first and then if it becomes a bonsai or a houseplant, it doesnt matter - a living tree is better than a dead tree.

(Especially one from the lineage of the esteemed Mr. Atherstone the Great)

He was instrumental in South African history from botany including the establishment of Rhodes Botanical Garden to diamonds and road mapping as well as a Physician who had the first Ether Surgery in South Africa and also making archeological finds. So yeah if that's not great I'm not sure what to say