Hi all,

I have had this fiddle leaf fig tree (ficus lyrata) for about a year
and it has grown a lot of new leaves along three of its branches, but
not on any others. In fact, many small, dry leaves have fallen off of
the other branches.

The three branches are getting a bit long now so I was planning on
chopping them back about half way to the trunk. Will the tree cope with
this? Is there a good time of year to attempt it?

Ideally, I'd like to encourage a few other branches to grow, but they
look rather dead. Is there any way to get other branches to grow,
particularly to grow upwards rather than sideways?

Thanks for any advice! :)