AusBonsai

amazing tree matt. the ramification is excellent. is that done mainly through clip and grow i take it i see a bit of wire there but i presume you have used it just to get it refined a little, could you tell us how long it has taken you to get this olive to this stage?? thanks mate


jamie

jamie111 wrote:amazing tree matt. the ramification is excellent. is that done mainly through clip and grow i take it i see a bit of wire there but i presume you have used it just to get it refined a little, could you tell us how long it has taken you to get this olive to this stage?? thanks mate


jamie

mate mainly through clip and grow. However i have wired some branches that were misbehaving. I did not start this tree, i was fortunite enough to get it a few years ago.It has come some way in that time and I did remove certain branches, redesign the top but i cant take credit for the overall design. I dont know its age but judging by its bark and overall development it has age. I believe it was started as stock and not collected.

interesting mate, judging by the trunk and base one would think it was collected, but to acheive the characteristics of this one from stock is an absolute credit to the one that started it, the bark and trunk definately depict age.
you have done well to obtain the tree


jamie

Thanks for showing Noah. It is a great tree and the ramification is looking great.
I would say

each to there own i guess.

As for the long top though. There is some great character here but I think it somehow needs a change. Maybe a cascade that will show of the great carachter of the trunk. Not sure but I did try a vert by changing teh angle and using the first branch as a new leader?

Very good start. It is recommended to sprinkle garden lime over the soil every six months, helps with colour and attitude [olives, little bastards that they can be, can sulk for years doing nothing until you get rid of them and they start to power on]. I think it is too early for defoliation until you get your basic branch structure but I have done that to two olives just because they were left untended and the foliage was at the tips of leggy branches... I cut the majority of everything off except for the major branches and within months the development was happening.

Janet Sabey of SA recommends Dynamic Lifter centimetres deep on olives... they are hungry trees. Keep up the feed once the tree has settled, add garden line and look forward to a really nice bonsai in several years.

Bretts wrote:Thanks for the Info Aus. I had heard about even chopping the olive off at ground level with no roots and treating like a cutting. Hopefully I am heading out that way come Autumn and I can try it for myself.

Only if you wanna mess your chainsaw up. Honestly, a mattock is all you need, trench and pop them out. Use the chainsaw once you have all the soil removed.
Chains and bars are expensive...

Asus101 wrote:Only if you wanna mess your chainsaw up. Honestly, a mattock is all you need, trench and pop them out. Use the chainsaw once you have all the soil removed.
Chains and bars are expensive...

So is Physiotherapy

I guess it is always an option. A good hand saw should get the job done. I think the 4wd was the best idea though

A mattock is easy.

Easier than a 4wd?

I just received my first olive a few weeks ago. I also hope to go collecting sometime in autumn. Are we going to organise a collecting trip for ausbonsai members? We just need to find a suitable collection site.... Easier said than done i guess.

JayC

That sounds like a great idea JayC. I have a spot planned for the Orange Bonsai club but I will have to double check how many we can take.

JayC wrote:Easier than a 4wd?

I just received my first olive a few weeks ago. I also hope to go collecting sometime in autumn. Are we going to organise a collecting trip for ausbonsai members? We just need to find a suitable collection site.... Easier said than done i guess.

JayC

yeah, you don't need to spend an hour hooking up chains.
There are plenty of olives around the Murry up in Mildura, hay, and the Adelaide hills. I know I start collecting in winter, as I can target more species when I am in Mildura. I can take cotoneaster, Chinese elm and trident maple.. Maybe a zelkova if I can find another one.

Is that an invite Aus?

For some reason my Olives sulked last year but looks like I am in for a good year of growth this Season.

Looks liek nice growth there Brett

Mine did not do much last year, but are going great guns so far. Mind you they are nowhere near as nice as yours

Ken