Post 62 A branch hidden may be a branch wasted

I have mentioned previously the value I get out of having one of my trees in the house on rotation. Each one gets a turn for a week and I get to look at it every time I go backwards and forwards. It is always hard to find the flaws in your own trees, but then quite surprising some times what you can see when there is only one to look at.

This willowleaf ficus (Nerifolia) has been styled with a well defined branch structure which is a little different from the umbrella canopy style you often see it in. The second branch connects to the trunk on the back of the trunk. Up until now it has been oriented to be pretty much in a sight line directly in line with the trunk, away from the viewer. The foliage pad can be seen and is arranged to provide the background depth to the tree. The prominent space between the left hand branches is too prominent. So why not fill the space and at the same time get some value out of that second rearward facing branch.

The next picture shows the temporary restraint in place to set the branch in a new position. This fills the space a little, provides some visibility of the branch and retains the background foliage pad for depth.

Courtesy of a little photoshopping I can take out the restrainer to more clearly see the final result. It will be a matter of viewing height but a possible problem this creates is the close alignment of the rear branch with the first right-hand branch. This can be resloved at a later stage with a little 'S' bend in the rear branch to lower the visible part by about 10mm to get a result.

I like the way taking a picture of a tree  and thus compressing it into two dimensions sometimes makes it easier to take a uncompromising clinical view about styling You get to see it in a different way. A photo shop like tool is also a good way to move branches around and experiment before you take irreversable steps.