I've got a small clumping of Ficus trees that I would like to fuse. I had originally wanted to just do a forest planting, but once fusing was suggested I changed my mind. There must be around 7-10 trees, but I will count and give you an exact number. How exactly does one go about fusing this many ficus? If I keep mine growing throughout the winter, could this process be done? Thanks!

Ryan

Normally you begin by deciding things like branch placement and relative size to each other, taking into consideration things like the approximate size and design of the finished tree. Where trunks are going to meet you remove roots and branches then bare a strip on each tree.

You can loosely hold them together with masking tape until you have the 'bundle' ready to go. Then use something like soft rubber to pad the trunks, or cloth and (most common) a wrap of raffia to bind them. This is done multiple places on the trunk. The more modern way would be to use a good wrap of rubber ��" like inner tube or rubber roofing ��" then a wide wire tie at each point. Of course, as the tree/trees grow, you need to keep an eye on things. Seasonally you will have to relax/remove and replace the ties and the rubber so you don’t wind up with ugly groves in the trunk.

You can probably still minipulate those enough to get things started, have fun.

Bob

I read somewhere on the web about using electrical tape with the sticky side out to bundle them together as well. Would you recommend I start removing strips of bark and wrappring them together now? I plant to keep them growing throughout winter. Thank you!

Ryan

I found a very interesting site about how the author of the blog fused the trees in a very cool way that I would love to try. I will need more trees, however....

Penny