I inherited a tree this week. Upon researching, I discovered it’s a ficus. It used to sit in the division manager’s office at work and was a gift to him from the folks back when the group relocated to the building in the late 1990s. Originally it stood between his office and mine and was generally content to be several feet from a sunny window and receive water once a week. When his office expanded (and mine shrank slightly), the room for the tree also diminished, so it relocated to a new spot near the window in his office.
The problem with ficus is that they are a bit moody and react poorly to relocation. It dropped leaves like crazy.
Fast forward to March 2020; we left the building and began working from home to stop the spread of pestilence. The skeleton crew in the building–the 24-hour security, maintenance workers and a few required office staff members–did their best to keep the building from looking abandoned. When I had a chance to visit the office late last year, the poor tree was very unhappy. Its trunk, which had three shoots intertwined, has come unraveled, and it had dropped leaves like crazy. Its pot was a murky swamp of old water. I did my best to restore some order, but without a tree cosmetology license, it still drooped. I don’t know if there is a plant doctor who can re-weave a ficus tree, but right now it looks more like a weeping willow.
Forward again to this year. I saw the ficus still hanging onto life like a beleaguered refugee standing its ground against immeasurable odds. The manager wanted me to ask at the office about keeping it in the lobby, but I got a sound no to that, so I brought it home.
The tree now sits on my sun porch with (hopefully) the same exposure as before, and I’m looking forward to a day when I can see some improvement, so maybe I can retrain it to weave itself back to its former glory. Soil is on standby, and a privileged spot awaits its recovery. Right now it’s sort of in shock.
And yes, it’s still dropping leaves like crazy.
At least it has company, with violets and crown of thorns and spider plants. Along with the tree, I also received all the watering cans. None of my plants will lack water, because I have a can for each room.
What I will need is a spare tarp so I won’t have to keep bending or kneeling to pick up ficus leaves.
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