How to make shrubs grow like a tree?

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calvinkrause Gold Coast, Australia Apr 17, 2015

How do you get forsythias, and shrubs in general, to grow like a tree?
Also, many ficus indoor plants are sold in several shapes (like a tree or with leaves from top to bottom).
How are they grown?

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Apr 17, 2015

To make any of several kinds of shrub into a single trunked tree (referred to as Standard, meaning tree shaped)
1) Select a plant that already has one stem well centered and growing vertically.
2) Prune some of the side growth. Not all the way off, but perhaps 50%. This way you are removing the apical bud of each side branch, which helps to control the growth, yet leaving the leaves to provide energy for the plant.
3) Each year remove some of the lowest growth all the way to the trunk. Perhaps the lowest 3-5 branches each year. Watch out for sunburn when you remove these branches.
4) When the main trunk is tall enough top it (pinch or cut off the growing tip) to encourage more bushiness. By removing the top bud you are telling the plant to send more energy into the side shoots. You then suppress the growth that happens lower down and train the growth that is in the right location, perhaps pinching the tips to encourage more branching.

Ficus and others:
Usually greenhouse grown so the temperature, humidity and lighting is all controlled. Then, through training similar to the above method, and starting with young and flexible plants, they will braid the stems, or train them into trees, or plant several in one pot and grow them as a multi-trunked tree.
The Ficus you buy as a house plant (even in a fairly large pot) is just a young plant, they get really big in their native areas.

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calvinkrause Gold Coast, Australia Apr 17, 2015

Thank you so much for the detailed answer! :-)

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