jeanluc83
Omono
Anyone growing autumn olive, elaeagnus augustifolia, as bonsai?
Autumn olive?
- Thread starter jeanluc83
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jeanluc83
Omono
Okay! Now settle down everyone. I never imagined I would get such overwhelming responses.
I Guess I'll just
need to collect a few in the spring to see how they do. They are very wide spread in my area to the point of being invasive. Getting permission to collect should not be a problem.
I Guess I'll just
need to collect a few in the spring to see how they do. They are very wide spread in my area to the point of being invasive. Getting permission to collect should not be a problem.
Jester217300
Shohin
They actually are invasive almost everywhere, especially if you're in the Midwest. They make decent bonsai from the ones I've seen. Fairly hard to kill so you can be brutal during collection.
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Never saw this thread before.
I had one I collected a few years ago.
It's hard to find single trunk ones but I did.
I collected it in the spring. With a severe chop and cutting of a ton of roots.
I put it in a 5 gallon nursery bucket in its native soil. It did great like you would expect. So last spring I figured I would root prune it again ,wash the old soil out and get it into a colander. It died.
I suspect it was extremely stressed from last winters brutal cold. Or you can't go at their roots like they are an elm.
Give one a try. They already have small leaves. They flower and the blooms are pretty fragrant. And they get small berries. Just watch out for thorns!
I had one I collected a few years ago.
It's hard to find single trunk ones but I did.
I collected it in the spring. With a severe chop and cutting of a ton of roots.
I put it in a 5 gallon nursery bucket in its native soil. It did great like you would expect. So last spring I figured I would root prune it again ,wash the old soil out and get it into a colander. It died.
I suspect it was extremely stressed from last winters brutal cold. Or you can't go at their roots like they are an elm.
Give one a try. They already have small leaves. They flower and the blooms are pretty fragrant. And they get small berries. Just watch out for thorns!
jomawa
Shohin
Darkness supersedes permission, don'cha know? Oooops, thats out on the world wide web, where's my eraser, dang, it won't work on this monitor, dang monitors anyway, dang. Uhhh, disregard I said anything about darkness.
"Autumn olive", yeah, I think I do have, still in the terrariun since getting the 3" (that's length, not diameter) cutting at a local bonsai class September or October, olive tree bonsai was the topic. "Growing" autumn olive? No, I don't think so, I would need to put a micrometer on it to know for sure, but I don't believe it has grown even a milimeter since I got it. Possibly it's my encouragement technique, whenever I spritz it with water. (In a rather loud voice, with my mouth only two feet from the plant, I say, "Grow, confound you olive, grow!" It does seem to still be alive, green and standing straight, but other than that is totally uncooperative.
When you get your olive be sure to take a flashlight so you can see it's demeaner, ooops, when you acquire your olive I hope you are able to see all the desireable key pre-bonsai traits, and that you're able to get a plant with a very good start.
Jester217300
Shohin
"Autumn olive" is a common name. The plant is, in fact, not an olive at all.
jomawa
Shohin
I'm new here and thought that might be the case, but when I briefly google imaged "autumn olive" I saw a lot of olive leaf similar to mine. Google probably was only cued in on the olive part.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I'll say....
This musta got lost in the New Year Changes.
Sorce
This musta got lost in the New Year Changes.
Sorce
jeanluc83
Omono
It appears that I included the wrong name botanical name anyway. Autumn olive is Elaeagnus umbellate. The Russian olive Elaeagnus augustifolia is similar.
If I do end up collecting in the spring I'm planning on bare rooting it at collection. I like to remove the native soil from collected trees as soon as possible. I'm not sure if the tree can take it but since they are invasive anyway I'm not going to be too cut up if it doesn't make it.
thumblessprimate1
Masterpiece
Not here, but I've started training Eleagnus pungens for about a year,
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
I wasn't too broke up. They're everywhere here.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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All 5 Elaeagnus species common in the USA will work for bonsai. Elaeagnus comutata is the native species, native to Mid-western states, west of the Mississippi, Alberta, Canada, through into California. Dry grasslands and forest edges are its habitat. The other 4 are introduced species, considered invasive species pretty much universally. E. pungens is only hardy to zone 7, E. multiflora is hardy to about zone 6 maybe 5b. E. umbellata is hardy throughout zone 5, and E. angustifolia is probably hardy to zone 3.
Elaeagnus is a genus in the greater Olive family, while not the culinary olive, it can be loosely referred to as an olive. Other fragrant flowering members of the olive family include Osmanthus.
Elaeagnus is a genus in the greater Olive family, while not the culinary olive, it can be loosely referred to as an olive. Other fragrant flowering members of the olive family include Osmanthus.
Dalmat
Shohin
I was wondering too is this species any good for bonsai,almost nothing on net. Then I dag this out a month ago ,roots washed (by the way thicker ones easily breaks if bended, learn that when I tried radial spread it) and some initial pruning.
We'll see what's gona be out of it.Shouldn't be problems,olive family tolerates a lot of horasment. Only to worry about freezing in cold temp zones. But I don't have that problems , olives are common here
This is eleagnus ebbingei.
We'll see what's gona be out of it.Shouldn't be problems,olive family tolerates a lot of horasment. Only to worry about freezing in cold temp zones. But I don't have that problems , olives are common here
This is eleagnus ebbingei.
jeanluc83
Omono
Thanks for all the input. I have a few that I may go after in the spring.
And carving it will need! I only see dollar signs when I see trees like this. A pot for this tree is going to cost some $$$.
And carving it will need! I only see dollar signs when I see trees like this. A pot for this tree is going to cost some $$$.
I am thinking of a wooden handmade pot 24x24x6 not to many $s.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Elaeagnus ebbingei - I believe that is a hybrid, and should be written Elaeagnus x ebbingei, it should be equally good for bonsai as the other species, except it does look like it has larger leaves than the others more commonly used species. In fact your leaves are large enough that at first glance I though the photo was of Osmanthus fragrans. My Osmanthus fragrans has similar issues with a section of stem will have several short internodes, a lot of buds clustered, then a long internode with no buds, then another cluster of short intonodes and lots of buds. Tends to end up looking "clumpy", almost like a pine with radial spoke of a wheel branch arrangement. Have not had a lot of success with "taming" this feature in my Osmanthus. Please do a progression post with your Eleagnus x ebbingei in the future and keep us posted with progress. I do believe, as you develop ramification, leaf size will come down to better proportions.
jeanluc83
Omono
That tree looks like it will need some serious cutting down even to get it into a 24 x 24 box. I might consider putting it into one of Vance's panted screen side grow boxes. This looks like a fun but long term project.
jomawa
Shohin
Sorry, but I had to laugh at your comment. Am I missing something here. Can I do this bonsai thing, without just going out and buying a finished bonsai, by crafting it myself in the short term somehow? Because that's more fitting to what I thought possible, that is, before I started "crafting" anything for myself, dang plants, grow! grow!.
jeanluc83
Omono
@jomawa There is nothing wrong with long term projects as long as you recognize them as such. As I said the above tree looks like it would me a lot of fun to work on. But it is going to take a lot of work and time.
Based on the pictures the root ball is 4-5 ft its going to take several years of repotting to get it reduced and in shape to be in a Bonsai pot. The branches are 2 in or greater in diameter so it is going to take time to grow the tree it and cut it back to get believable transistions. There are many hours of carving. Many of Walter Pall's trees had quite similar beginnings to become very beautiful bonsai. The time frame for most of these trees is 30+ years.
At this point all of my trees are seedlings or collected. It is going to be a long time for them to become something but to me it is part of the appeal. You can start with finished trees, collected trees, seeds and anything in between. It is all about what you enjoy and want you want to of it.
Based on the pictures the root ball is 4-5 ft its going to take several years of repotting to get it reduced and in shape to be in a Bonsai pot. The branches are 2 in or greater in diameter so it is going to take time to grow the tree it and cut it back to get believable transistions. There are many hours of carving. Many of Walter Pall's trees had quite similar beginnings to become very beautiful bonsai. The time frame for most of these trees is 30+ years.
At this point all of my trees are seedlings or collected. It is going to be a long time for them to become something but to me it is part of the appeal. You can start with finished trees, collected trees, seeds and anything in between. It is all about what you enjoy and want you want to of it.
