bdmatt
Mame
Was inspired to make a progression on this olive because of a recent post asking if an olive stump was possible to bonsai. Short answer is yes. Fortunately, the previous owner gave me its history before my purchase in October so I can make a detailed account on this tree
June 23, 2019. Tree was collected from the ground. The top was cut and tap roots removed.
June 30, 2019. A literal stump with no branches and very little roots. The trunk at its widest point is 19 inches, but was planted deep to leave a 16 inch nebari.
July 12, 2019. Planted in a 24 inch plastic pot and covered in a plastic bag to increase humidity. New growth started to push a week and a half after the initial dig.
May 3, 2020. At this point, primary branches were selected and kept.
October 14, 2023. The tree came into my collection sometime early October. It looked largely untouched since those pictures in 2020. The primary branches had developed secondary and tertiary branching. However, a majority of those branches were too thick to wire (they also grew upwards) or were too far from the trunk to incorporate into the final design. Instead, I decided to do a reset on the tree, leaving only primaries and some secondaries.
October 15, 2023. The olive was pruned back heavily, leaving only the primaries and some secondaries. I hoped with such a cutback that I would get growth closer to the trunk. Also during this time, branches were wired down.
November 5, 2023. By late October, there were new buds emerging everywhere.
December 5, 2023. In the last month, the tree has doubled its foliar mass since the October cutbacks. There are even more buds that have yet to pop, but I'm guessing have slowed down since temperatures have finally started to cool. I could wire down the new growth now to create better defined pads, but I want to wait until they harden off. For now, I won't touch the foliage for a while.
Next step for the tree is to repot it, either in 2024 or 2025. I have yet to find a pot large and wide enough for it.
June 23, 2019. Tree was collected from the ground. The top was cut and tap roots removed.
June 30, 2019. A literal stump with no branches and very little roots. The trunk at its widest point is 19 inches, but was planted deep to leave a 16 inch nebari.
July 12, 2019. Planted in a 24 inch plastic pot and covered in a plastic bag to increase humidity. New growth started to push a week and a half after the initial dig.
May 3, 2020. At this point, primary branches were selected and kept.
October 14, 2023. The tree came into my collection sometime early October. It looked largely untouched since those pictures in 2020. The primary branches had developed secondary and tertiary branching. However, a majority of those branches were too thick to wire (they also grew upwards) or were too far from the trunk to incorporate into the final design. Instead, I decided to do a reset on the tree, leaving only primaries and some secondaries.
October 15, 2023. The olive was pruned back heavily, leaving only the primaries and some secondaries. I hoped with such a cutback that I would get growth closer to the trunk. Also during this time, branches were wired down.
November 5, 2023. By late October, there were new buds emerging everywhere.
December 5, 2023. In the last month, the tree has doubled its foliar mass since the October cutbacks. There are even more buds that have yet to pop, but I'm guessing have slowed down since temperatures have finally started to cool. I could wire down the new growth now to create better defined pads, but I want to wait until they harden off. For now, I won't touch the foliage for a while.
Next step for the tree is to repot it, either in 2024 or 2025. I have yet to find a pot large and wide enough for it.
