'Small Leaved Ficus' Forest by Dierk Neugebauer See a large image of this tree History: The ficus forest planting on the previous page started life about six or seven years ago as a number of small cuttings that I took from a larger tree of the same species. The cuttings rooted quite readily and were then planted in large flower pots with a soilless mix such as one usually uses for starting seeds. Such a growing medium is ideal for young plants like this since it readily holds moisture and fertilizer, and encourages good root growth. Fertilizing usually consisted of slow release lawn fertilizer applied four or five times a year. The plants spent their summers outside in full sun, and their winters in a small attached greenhouse. Without adequate light, plants like this tend not to flourish very well, and, without enough light, tend to get "leggy." After about four years the "trees" had put on enough girth that they could be considered for inclusion in the forest planting. The Forest Planting: The nineteen by twelve inch container I chose for my forest planting is made of white marble and suits the trees very well. Strangely enough, the marble transmits light to the root zone, so that I discovered algae growing on the inside of the pot when it came time to repot the forest. Over the last three years the grouping has tended to get rather tall and leggy due to the proximity of the trees to one another - at the present time, the tallest is thirty two inches in height! The forest planting in June, 1999 Repotting is difficult at best since the root systems of all trees intertwine. In the past I have removed a half inch slice of soil and roots from the bottom of the container (that represents about one third of the total root mass), and then replaced these with new bonsai soil. There were no problems in using this technique, and the trees picked up noticeably after getting over the initial transplant shock. Future Plans: I am planning to let the group attain another inch or two in height before radically cutting them back, perhaps by about a third. Shorter trees will look heavier and, therefore, more mature. This radical cutting back will also make it easier to create the asymetrical triangular shape that bonsai enthusiasts look for in many of their trees. Down the road I am also thinking of transplanting the forest onto a rock slab, either real or artificial. I think that the extra space will create a more interesting view of this planting.