How to Prune Ficus Benjamina: A Step By Step Manual on How to Turn Your Shrub into the Work Of Art

Our tips and advices will be useful for any gardener no matter how experienced. Ficusses are known for their rapid growth so they make really good tree shaping material. No matter if you are into pruning and shaping the trees as a hobby or if you need to perform some emergency pruning on your ficus we have got you covered.

There are numerous advices published online but trust us it is always better to stick to the professional advices. If you have any issues or maybe some questions that you cannot find an answer to please let us know. We will be more than willing to help you.

Renewal Pruning

Growing ficus benjamina is very popular and the plant has become really common. As a result lots of people are trying to prune the trees themselves. It is fairly easy if you know for sure what shape you would like and follow these simple steps. Read on how to carry out the renewal pruning by yourself.

1. The best time for the renewal pruning is late winter before the active growth period.
2. In case the shrub suffered an illness and has dropped a few leaves you need an emergency pruning. Once the tree has been cured it is time to cut off the dry boughs.
3. Cut about a quarter but no more than a third. Leave the main trunk untouched.
4. Now your ficus has less tissue and can concentrate on growing new boughs and foliage.

Shaping Pruning Techniques

There are lots of different bonsai techniques out there. We shall go over the major ones. Perhaps you are curious to try it yourself. Remember that ficusses can be easily shaped no matter what method you are using. Plus as a beginner you need a plant that bends easily and grows quickly. Once you try your skills on the ficusses you can move on to the more complex techniques and shapes. But remember that this hobby is very addictive with more and more followers every year.

• Wiring styling. Use copper wire for the boughs of your whipping fig. You can pick the shape and the angle you like. Bear in mind that thicker branches need more wiring. You can start with simple wiring some boughs of the same size together. Wire a 45 degrees edge in order to leave some growing space for the plant.
• Pruning styling. If maintaining a tiny tree is your aim you cannot avoid pruning. It might hard to pick out which boughs to cut off and which ones to leave for styling. The best way to prune your ficus benjamina is to figure out the natural shape of the tree and follow it in the further pruning. You will be able to gradually perfect the shape and the foliage later on but it will be much easier as the original tree shape remains. Of course the more experienced gardeners can go for the more exquisite shapes but it all comes in time.
• There are various other techniques such as creating dead wood, defoliation or using hard formations. We recommend you moving onto the more complicated techniques once you master pruning and wiring.

We hope that this article has all your questions on how to prune the ficus tree answered. And remember that this hobby is really addictive so more creative freedom to you.