Need advise on my new Olive tree

[Brownthumb]

I just dug out this Olive from the side of the road on my way home from a clients place. I have pruned it back a bit, put in a pot with potting mix and then soaked it with water and then gave it a strong mix of Seasol. Any suggestions to look after this tree and any help in training would be a great help as I have not actually started a tree from scratch.

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[BirchMan]

I dug a multi trunk olive similar to this one last winter, and at the time flat cut the base (underside) and chose 3 nicely spaced trunks to keep, then chopped the rest off. Recently i cut down the trunks to 3 different heights based on their thickness, and wired up a new leader. Whether you want to go with 3 or less is up to you, but at the moment it's a touch crowded for mine. Of course you could go for a raft/forest style, but that's not something i've attempted before.

[Brownthumb]

Yes I was thinking along the lines of a forest type setup. Not shore which to cut or shape yet but with input from others I can then come up with a good idea of what I want to do. thanks

[Tony Bebb]

Nice find 'on the side of the road' BT.

It appears you have 2 main trunks with the older bark, and a number of over developed suckers with the younger lighter bark. I would start with the main 2 and pick 1 to 3 of the others that spread evenly away from the main 2. A bit hard to tell which ones from the pics, but start with the best view of the main 2 that shows the best base and pic the others from that front. Looks like the second and third photos in the pot are a good place to start. The branches will come later.

Tony

[Chris Sirre]

Hi BT,

Nice find. I would take everything off but one. Keep the one which has to most movement. Then just keep feeding it and let it grow till it starts to thicken up. Keep removing the suckers. Be patient as it will take a while.

Cheers,

Chris

[Brownthumb]

Thanks Tony, Maybe I should trim some of the greenery away and trim some of the inward growing small branches and then take some photos showing the stems more cleary.

[Brownthumb]

Hi Chris, I was thinking along the line of a few stems as a forest style bonsai. I will trim it up a bit and see what it looks like with some growth and stems removed and then submit some photos again. Thanks

[Brownthumb]

I have just pruned the Olive a bit more and have taken some more pictures. The stems with the vertical white marks are the oldest, the stem with the horizontal line is the most inflexible stem. I have also taken a overhead view. I have put white marks on the side of the pot 1 and 2 marks. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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[Tony Bebb]

Hi BT

I would get rid of the 2 thick outside trunks, the ones closest to the edge of the stump, which looks like it will leave you with 5 remaining. You could take them off now, but don't prune any more off yet. Just let it grow after winter for a while. In spring you could reduce the trunk heights so they were all different and grow new leaders. Thickest the tallest down to thinnest the shortest.

Tony

[Brownthumb]

Thanks Tony for that, I will remove the two stems in question next weekend and then let it grow until Spring.

David