I'm not trying to hide my greenhouse, only help it fit into the forest environment. I went to the neighbor's house and looked out their window, though they don't mind, but they had a perfect unobstructed view of the entire roof. So the ficus trees help blend the structure into nature. These have been topped and trimmed to it's current ugly mess. I am not good a trimming trees. @WillC any hints would be appreciated. The ficus will be housed in the greenhouse this winter. I hope they like it in there!

Hi Cheryl,

Both of your Ficus trees look healthy so you have taken good care of them. These trees can be sculpted to almost any shape or size that you want. The new one the left in the photo you posted has an unusual and interesting shape with foliage growth at the bottom and the top with bare stems in between - almost topiary-like. If you like that, then leave it as is. However, if you want a more traditional "standard" form, then I suggest you prune off some or all of the stems that have bare stems above the lower foliage growth. This will shorten the tree (temporarily), but produce more compact and uniform growth.

There is no "right way" to do this and pruning will not effect the overall health of your trees. Ficus trees respond remarkably well to pruning and challenge you to prune them to get them in the form that YOU prefer. Just remember that new growth will emerge just below the pruning cuts and grow outward from there. So just prune back any stem to a point where you would like to see new growth come in.

Be bold! Experiment and watch how the stems grow after they are pruned. Once you overcome your initial fears of pruning, it can be quote addictive! Today, I got to prune a doctor's 30 year old Ficus tree that had not been pruned in many years. It took me about 10 minutes and he and his wife were thrilled when I was done. Trust me, this is not rocket science and anyone can do it, although you probably won't get paid as much as I did!!

I got the one on the left when we first moved to this area in 1982. It was a 4" pot from a store called Handy Dan. Handy Dan has long gone out of business. But the tree thrives! Notice where the branching splits about 12" from the bottom? I think I should have done something about that...about 30 years ago! Hence it's weird shape. Both were in the house until they got to big.

Hi Cheryl,

"Weird shape" is in the eyes of the beholder. Doesn't look that way to me, but you are the owner, not me!

I see that it is leaning a bit. If you want it to be more vertical, you can physiologically lift it up a bit out of its pot and re-position it slightly so that the main trunk is upright and the surface of the soil tilted slightly. Put some soil in the side of the pot where there is a space to hold it in place.

Thanks, Will. Yeah, I think it's weirdly shaped. I might cut the bottom branches. I've done it before. But it only makes that "Y" look obvious. Not only it is leaning, it has split the pot on that side. I need a new bigger pot or 4 for all those monsters that now surround the greenhouse. The root ball probably needs trimming, too. What if I saw off that right branch. It's pretty big. It is the size of a small tree itself! Would that giant thing root? That would be awesome to have "instant tree".