Drastic shaping of an olive yamadori

[Andrew Legg]

Hi All,

I wanted to get some inputs on this. I dug out an olive yesterday. It is about 15 to 20cms across at the base, and has a bit of taper in the first 10 to 15cms. There after it is like a telephone pole going up up up and away! So here's the question:

As I consider this tree to be marginal stock at best, I am going to need to do something really hardcore to it to make it into a decent bonsai. My initial feelings are to chop it down to about 30cms high (currently it is about 120cms high) (most of that left on to help carry it from the dig site), and then do some major carving work to the tree to hollow it out and give it the appearance of a very old rotted short stout tree. Now I know I can chop it to whatever height I want now, but can I hollow it out as well? Would that be just too much shock, or can an olive handle a real good hammering before it is rooted and left to recover for a few years?

PS: I have not posted an image of the tree here as a.) I don't have one yet, and b.) It is more of a generic question than specific advice I'm after.

Look forward to hearing from y'all.

Cheers,

Andrew

[alpineart]

Hi Andrew , they say you can't kill an olive , well there wrong , I've killed quite a few . Anything living can most certainly be bump off . Yes they are extremely hardy , i have purposefully ring barked a lousy specimen and it has survived for 3 years and is growing new bark on one side and has covered the ring bark area buy 20% .I had several that i did the Alpineart " hack , chop , carve and hollow" and they didn't like my brutality , fire wood after 18 months . On a lighter note i have a Father - Son specimen that was close to 2m high 300mm base before collecting which i cut down to 200mm and drilled and carved and sculptured out leaving 50% of the mass and bark on each side of the leaders . Originally it had 6-7 trunks .

The first season it grew all new shoots which were used to style , next season it died off by 50% , now its coming back with good growth all round .It will need a restyle as the original concept was all but lost when it died back .It will remain a Father / Son BUT a different shape .I collected a small trunk in Adelaide S.A , potted it up and left for my mate to bring over .It wasn't watered and was under an enclosed carport were no water could be had .It was brown 3 months later when Arnold came over for a visit , even the tuber in my eyes was cactus .I did put it in the ground amongst the Trident maples and now Winter is here its the only bit of greenery in the grow beds , all new shoots are coming only from the tuber and below ground level . I can kill them with kindness yet have them survive with no water or aftercare .

Hope this helps Cheers Alpine

[bodhidharma]

I agree with Alpine, i have flat bottomed an olive which was incredibly healthy and it responded by losing some branches and stopped pumping growth to the upper branches for two years. I imagine it is our climate here in Victoria which certainly contributes to the Olive response to severe work done. I have learnt to go more slowly in an olive's development and do not expect results which olive's produce in a warmer more stable climate.

[Andrew Legg]

So I guess you guys are saying that olives are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates? You never konw what you're gonna get! As it is marginal stock, perhaps I should just hammer it and report back on what happens!

[alpineart]

Hi mate , rip into it that's the way .If you find a better one you will have some experience on your side .Cheers Alpineart

[Ces]

So I guess you guys are saying that olives are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates? You never konw what you're gonna get! As it is marginal stock, perhaps I should just hammer it and report back on what happens!

Hey Andrew,

ANy update on this tree? I'm really interested to see what happened.

Cheers,

Ces.

[Andrew Legg]

So I guess you guys are saying that olives are like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates? You never konw what you're gonna get! As it is marginal stock, perhaps I should just hammer it and report back on what happens!

Hey Andrew,

ANy update on this tree? I'm really interested to see what happened.

Cheers,

Ces.

Hey Ces,

Yes, I was a bad father and beat the thing one inch too far. It is now being considered as a base for a juniper phoenix graft. Another alternative will be to do some experiments on olive as a fire wood for braaiing. I let it in an unchanged tub of Superthrive for about a month. Carved into it with a chainsaw, did not seal and generally neglected it terribly. If you want to keep your olives alive, don't do that!

Cheers mate,

Andrew

[Andrew F]

Ive found olives to be a little more touchy than what people generally say lol

[Ces]

Hey Ces,

Yes, I was a bad father and beat the thing one inch too far. It is now being considered as a base for a juniper phoenix graft. Another alternative will be to do some experiments on olive as a fire wood for braaiing. I let it in an unchanged tub of Superthrive for about a month. Carved into it with a chainsaw, did not seal and generally neglected it terribly. If you want to keep your olives alive, don't do that!

Cheers mate,

Andrew

Sorry to hear that mate. Hopefully it'll make a great pheonix graft base... or cooks up some seriously delicious meats!

THanks for replying though. I'll remember your experience when it comes time to carve some of my big yamadori olives.

Cheers,

Ces.

[Andrew Legg]

Sorry to hear that mate. Hopefully it'll make a great pheonix graft base... or cooks up some seriously delicious meats!

THanks for replying though. I'll remember your experience when it comes time to carve some of my big yamadori olives.

Cheers,

Ces.

Ces, the more I play with olives the more I think that it is good to dig 'em, get them going in a big pot and then give them a few years to get over the shock of root removal. Once they put on the new growth, and have got their mojo back, then carve and hack 'em into shape. That said, when you dig, if you have a basic idea of what you want to do, cut the tree to the correct places up front, and don't leave it bigger. My experience with these is that they typically shoot from the top, so any extra height will need to be cut off along with the growth you have got over the time since digging. That's just a waste. Some suggestions I'd make:

When you pot them up, pot them a bit deeper into the mix than normal. I go for at least 10cms of medium above the rooting point. This ensures that the critical rooting area does not dry out between waterings with the heat of the sun. Also, place them in a spot that gets good sun. I have had good success with Leca/pinebark/palmpeat as a mix. Leca is an expanded clay product. I then feed with chook poo once they get going as this is a fairly sterile mix as far as nutrients are concerned. It does seem to keep a nice moist warm environment to encourage roots though.

Cheers,

Andrew

[Ces]

Thanks andrew thats a lot of info. After reading furher and your comments i'm going to leave them alone for twp growing seasons before messing with them. Too much work to collect to kill with haste.

Mine have been sitting in a seasol bath since yesterday and wont be potted until monday (4 days). Is this going to be ok.

Cheers, ces.