Nursery hunting day 1

[maroun.c]

Checked out first nearby nursery today for some deciduous trees thinking I can repot out of nursery soil immediately. Didnt find any interesting deciduous trees but found the followings some.im thinking about.
Olive 1
A 500 usd 25 cm trunk with double the width gnarly base. Love the base but have been advised to avoid this size before as it's tough to manipulate and will take years to have branches I can work with to match trunk size.


Olive 2
Half the size of olive one, nice texture but also no branches to work.with and a flaw in the trunk




Olive 3
Better and more.manageable.size at a fraction of the price of the above. Some hidden gnarly base and many branches to play with or maybe just go with a rounded canopy and clean up the lower branches going forward...one am considering the most. Trunk is cut flat at the top.anwhile back as I can clearly see the black dead wood and I believe all branches were regrown and shaped as is

 

[maroun.c]

Saw this nandina which I never had in mind and never saw as bonsai but believe the base is quite interesting and texture looks pretty nice. No idea if this would make a nice bonsai or how to work with it.

The trunk on this I believe lilandea caught my attenttionbut not sure if those workout as bonsai. Also those branches I believe wont work and itll be years to get new branches to work ?

Appreciate input on what to go for if any and how to plan repot and basic plan for above trees or basically olive 3 and the nandina I guess.
Thanks for ur input.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I would skip the nandina. The growth habits aren’t conducive to bonsai training. Good accent plants with seasonal interest, however.

 

[Bonsai_Bentley]

I'm planning a nandina forest planting, but as mentioned you don't really train them much. Think of it as a big kusamono lol.

 

[maroun.c]

Guess I'll.skip the Nandina.
How about Olive 3 think its worth it ?

 

[sorce]

How about Olive 3 think its worth it ?

9/10th and 1/50th are both fractions!

I like 3. 2 may have base but meh.
F1 like a computer key $500.
3 is already visually 10 times better.

Sorce

 

[maroun.c]

I always wonder if I'll learn bonsai or get to understand ur posts from first read first Sorce
Thanks for ur input looks like I'll pick it up tomorrow.

 

[Bonsai_Bentley]

I always wonder if I'll learn bonsai or get to understand ur posts from first read first Sorce
Thanks for ur input looks like I'll pick it up tomorrow.

Okay, I wasn't sure that I read the correctly. $500 USD seems awfully high to me, but I'm not aware of the availability of such things in your area. A lot of things to consider. Ultimately, if you feel that it's worth $500 to you then it's worth it.

 

[maroun.c]

Olives should be way cheaper here but recently we've been getting Spanish and Italian similar trees and they put them in shallow pots and they sell for extreme high prices. Noninvasive dont feel it's worth that much not would I play with a pre bonsai tree that expensive.
The olive 3 is for only 80 usd with a decent although hidden base not that from the first. Which for me is a fair price I believe for my purpose. For someone taking a tree to decorate the entrance of his home 500 might be well justified maybe.

 

[leatherback]

olive 3. Clean up roots, carve the top.

 

[maroun.c]

Amazing tree can u share pics of how u carved it ?

 

[leatherback]

Don't really have any!

 

[maroun.c]

Amazing. What did you carve it with ? Dremel ? What bits to use for this ?

 

[AJL]

Olives should be way cheaper here but recently we've been getting Spanish and Italian similar trees and they put them in shallow pots and they sell for extreme high prices. Noninvasive dont feel it's worth that much not would I play with a pre bonsai tree that expensive.
The olive 3 is for only 80 usd with a decent although hidden base not that from the first. Which for me is a fair price I believe for my purpose. For someone taking a tree to decorate the entrance of his home 500 might be well justified maybe.

I would be very cautious about buying Italian or Spanish Olive trees due to the Xylella disease outbreaks in those countries, unless they come with by valid Plant passport/ phyto certificates for the trees: You really dont want to introduce Xylella disease into Lebanon as well.

 

[leatherback]

Amazing. What did you carve it with ? Dremel ? What bits to use for this ?

First picture: cuts with a chainsaw.
Then second picture: detailing with a bonsai nibbler on a makita grinder.

I I contempleting to split this tree into 2 trees come summer. After that there will be more carving.

 

[maroun.c]

I would be very cautious about buying Italian or Spanish Olive trees due to the Xylella disease outbreaks in those countries, unless they come with by valid Plant passport/ phyto certificates for the trees: You really dont want to introduce Xylella disease into Lebanon as well.

I dont buy I internationally, I just buy what local nurseries are offering. Yet most of the large olives that sell for gardens are I believe Spanish and Italian. I hope these are checked for disease at entry.

 

[maroun.c]

First picture: cuts with a chainsaw.
Then second picture: detailing with a bonsai nibbler on a makita grinder.

I I contempleting to split this tree into 2 trees come summer. After that there will be more carving.

Great work it looks amazing already.

 

[Bonsai_Bentley]

First picture: cuts with a chainsaw.
Then second picture: detailing with a bonsai nibbler on a makita grinder.

I I contempleting to split this tree into 2 trees come summer. After that there will be more carving.

Any concerns about wood rot with olives or is the wood pretty hard?

 

[leatherback]

Any concerns about wood rot with olives or is the wood pretty hard?

this trunk will outlive me, no matter how many pieces of fubgal growth I throw at it. aged olive wood is very durable

 

[WNC Bonsai]

The good thing about nandina is they are almost impossible to kill. I found one on our compost pile my wife had pulled up from the yard and tossed out last winter. It was frozen solid and the roots were exposed but it still had a couple green leaves so I picked it up and stuck it in a pot with some decent soil. It lived and is now coming along nicely. As Brian said the standard species are coarse and hard to control but there are dwarf varieties that would be good subjects.