Spring Plans

We are moving to mid February and time to start making some plans for spring. I generally do any re-potting and major pruning in March so that the trees have the Summer to recover and grow.

Re-potting

I'm going to leave some of the trees in their pots for another year without doing any work but I have 3 trees to re-pot. The Brazilian Raintree, upright Green Island Ficus and a Dwarf African Strangler are the trees that will move from training pots to nicer bonsai pots. I'm staying with the neutral brown, rectangular pots as I like the simplicity and consistency of the look.

Major pruning

The larger, somewhat Banyan style, African Strangler is scheduled for some major pruning. Now that the tree has been growing well over it's second Summer, it's time for some pruning/defoliation to help encourage ramification.

I'm planning on some really radical changes to the Port Jackson fig. I want to take some branches as cuttings that may work well for smaller trees and saw the main trunks down to smaller stumps. If this tree survives, then I could have a smaller tree with more dense foliage at some point in the future. At least that is the plan.

Special project

I have a small African Strangler that could work well for a root over rock style. I've already selected some nice rocks so this can be a nice longer term project.

So... I'm just gathering supplies and waiting for the weather to warm up!