What did you do today

[Sagebrush]

Picked up this small olive tree. Alittle root bound. Can I repot and also do some structural work or is that too much?

 

[BeepBeepBonsaiSheep]

4 threads down

What did you do today? Show us Pic Required

Me today: My trees today:

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Shibui]

Can I repot and also do some structural work or is that too much?

Olives are real hardy. We regularly dig wild ones and chop the trunks in one operation so they respond well to root reduction and pruning.

The real question is whether you should trim this little baby. If you just want a small, thin bushy tree then go ahead but if you aspire to a thick trunk, old looking olive bonsai it's probably advantageous to let it grow (a lot) because increased growth = increased trunk thickness. No problem with olives getting big because they can be chopped way back and still produce new buds, even on old, bare wood.

BTW. Best to add a location to your personal profile. Time of year can be critical for many bonsai techniques and species of tree. It may or may not be a good time to repot olives depending where in the world you are.

 

[Sagebrush]

Olives are real hardy. We regularly dig wild ones and chop the trunks in one operation so they respond well to root reduction and pruning.







The real question is whether you should trim this little baby. If you just want a small, thin bushy tree then go ahead but if you aspire to a thick trunk, old looking olive bonsai it's probably advantageous to let it grow (a lot) because increased growth = increased trunk thickness. No problem with olives getting big because they can be chopped way back and still produce new buds, even on old, bare wood.







BTW. Best to add a location to your personal profile. Time of year can be critical for many bonsai techniques and species of tree. It may or may not be a good time to repot olives depending where in the world yoTs u are.

 

[Sagebrush]

Thanks Shibui. I guess I don't know how to get my location on my posts. When I click on profile it shows??? From your post I guess I should up pot this a bit into some better soil, fert and leave it alone.

 

[Shibui]

Your location now showing on your profile, thanks for adding it.

From your post I guess I should up pot this a bit into some better soil, fert and leave it alone.

That's just one of the options but if you want a thick trunk olive bonsai in the next 15 years it is the best way to achieve it.
Olives grow quite quick in the ground but take years and years in pots here. In my area, if we want a thick trunk olive we usually just go out and dig up some fat trunk feral olives along the roadsides. Much quicker than waiting years for one to grow up.

 

[BonsaiRae]

Dug up this Korean Boxwood that was in a crowded spot and hope to make a nice tree out of it. Looks a bit windswept right now. I was wanting to do an old oak tree style, we will see what happens.

 

[snowman04]

Nice trunk material to work with... I'll be watching this thread.