fig | Shibui Bonsai

Summer is a great time to work on ficus and other sub tropical plants. They respond quickly and recover far better if pruned or root pruned while they are still actively growing.

This old ficus has been posted before. It is now a bit too large for me to manage comfortably so I’ve offered it for sale. Earlier in spring I gave this one a really hard trim as trimming had been neglected for a year or 2 and branches were becoming too long.

The tree has responded with masses of new shoots, some from the existing branches and more from the trunk. Now it is time to select best new shoots, thin out excess shoots and trim the good ones.

The dwarf green tree frog was not impressed that I removed all his cover but stayed put while I worked. Now safely back in the poly house.

The above tree (with or without the frog) is still available if you fancy owning an old, impressive trunk bonsai. Still priced at $3,300

For those who would rather invest some time instead of money Shibui Bonsai also has smaller starter Port Jackson figs. In just 30 years you could have something like the tree above for an investment of just $15 or $20.

I also repotted some starter root over rock ficus to check the roots. These trees were started just last year which shows how quickly ficus can grow.

One of the original members of our local bonsai society passed away last year. His widow has asked me to help sell off the last of their bonsai as she is downsizing and will not have space to keep these trees.

You now have the opportunity to own some Australian bonsai history at very realistic prices.

Trident maple, 1983 – $500

This trident maple is nearly 40 years old. A great opportunity to own an aged trident bonsai.

74cm tall (including pot), width 60cm

Moreton Bay fig, 1982 – $900

This is a superb example of twin trunk bonsai and has great ramification we expect to see in a bonsai close to 40 years old. Also note the great nebari.

65cm tall (including the pot), width 65cm.

Note that although this tree is labelled as Moreton Bay fig I am pretty sure it is actually Ficus rubiginosa – Port Jackson fig. Way back when these trees were being developed there was quite a lot of argument about fig ID and many PJ figs were misidentified simply because they lacked the rusty colored leaves. We now know that PJ figs come in many variants including green leaf like these 2 trees.

Moreton Bay fig, 1984 – $600

The almost horizontal right side trunk on this tree makes it a unique bonsai. I think the aerial roots at the front of the tree should go but I’ll leave that decision to the next owner.

55cm tall (including pot), width 60cm

WA fig, 1983 – $300

60cm tall (including pot), width 60cm

For more photos or info on any of these trees please email neil@shibuibonsai.com.au

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Ficus bonsai

Old bonsai for sale