A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees help! puppy tore up my ficus tree

Ok, the night before last Ditchy chewed a couple of branches on my ficus tree. We had a talk, and I thought he understood not to bother it anymore. this morning he had yanked off a couple more branches and broke most all of the top of the tree branches off. I'm thinking my only hope is to clean up the breaks with nice clean cuts and take whatever cuttings I can from it. I know it's not the best time to take cuttings, being 100 degrees and the dead of summer and all, but I really want to save some of this tree. it's from my dad's funeral.

I've never been able to root a woody plant/tree successfully. I can root regular plants all day long. piece of cake.

So, my question is what makes rooting a hardwood different than rooting a plant? is there a different technique, or is it just simply harder to do?

Or any other sugguestions would be greatly appreciated too.

oh, and I could post a pic if necessary.

cricket, as long as it is treated like nothing ever happened (watered, etc) a ficus can take serious hard pruning.

and, i usually just stick the cuttings down in the pot with the main plant. they root fine for me.

i've got one from my son in law's funeral that lives in spite of me! (it's outside right now.)

ok, jiff! sticking the cuttings into the soil of the main plant is about my only option anyway. I've been searching for soil left over from the ....uuuhhhh...plant cemetary.... but that 'soil' looks like dirt to me.

do you think I should clean up the 'breaks' with nice clean cuts? or just leave be? I noticed the little fart broke off at least a third of the top part of the tree. (it's 5-6 feet tall...if that matters)

i'd make clean cuts. at an angle if you can.

That can be important, have the spot prepared, make the cut and plant.
The original plant should survive as is, if you need, you can cut it back hard.
I'm curious, though, are we talkinf ficus benjamina or another indoor plant, or an outdoor fig?

I just realized I said, plant, I should have said put the stem in water. It should form roots in a short time. You coul plant it, but you would have to be very dilligent about keeping consistent moisture.