Growing new branches on a trunkchopped ficus.
 

Hello Group!

A while back I bought a large pot with three Ficus Benjamina at a nursery
sale. One of the plants had a 1 inch trunk and nice nebari, so I decided to
repot it and trunk chop it to try to make it into a future bonsai.
I left the lowest branch, which I decided to train as a new leader. This
branch has had several new shoots developing about 6 leaves each now. My
problem is that the lowest twigs on the new leader are still to high on the
trunk, they start at about 2/3 of the height and I would like them at about
1/3. I pruned away the tip of the new leader a while back to encourage new
growth closer to the trunk, or preferably on the trunk, but the new shoots
are still to high.

How do I solve this problem ? Do I need to keep pruning the tip and new
leader until there is some backbudding on a lower portion of the trunk ? Or
do I have to graft new brances at the preferred locations ? Any other
suggestions ?

What is the common method of developing branches on a ficus ?

Any help would be appreciated !

Best Regards
Eirik Kjølsrud