No new leaves growing at the top

[dutch-bonzai]

I've had my bonzai for almost 2 years now. It's a ficus bonsai, about 1.5m in height. I've had beautiful growth of nice leaves but after the long cold winter of 2009/2010, the leaves especially the top half of the bonsai started to fall and now there are no leaves at all on the branches. I don't see any new buds spouting out at the top half of the tree. At the bottom half of the tree, I can see now new leaves and buds spouting up.
Does anyone has a solution how to "revive" the top half of my bonsai so that new leaves/buds will sprout again?
Many thanks in advance.

[ntrino]

Hi there,

Wow that's a big bonsai tree! You should post a picture.

I'm no expert, but have you investigated the possibility that it might need heavy pruning or back budding?

I've read that after significant leaf drop, you should be extra cautious of over watering as the tree will not require so much - contrary to what some may believe.

Hope someone else experienced can provide you with some better direction. Look forward to seeing a picture if you can post it.

nt

[JTred]

You know I have been having a similar problem with my ficus. Good buds at the top, but they never open up and extend. The ones lower down have little bursts of growth every now and then. I don't think that there is a way to encourage growth at one specific spot except to discourage it somewhere else, but it seems like your tree had a rough time just surviving the winter. I would probably just let it go and see what happens this summer. Most likely if the upper branches are still alive, they will put out some kind of growth eventually.