Hamlet_Bonsai
Seedling
I've had this olive for around 15 yrs, I've recently started to style it so I thought I'd share some pics here.
I bought it as a bonsai but it ended up sat outside, was potted onto a larger plant pot and ignored for many yrs until my interest in practising bonsai came back.
I potted it into smaller pots and root pruned over a couple of years whilst trying to air layer a low down branch. This layering didn't take once removed and it created large swollen bumps on the lower trunk which you can see in the pics.
So in 2015 I started to style it into an informal upright and then bought a new pot for it at the end of the year, this picture shows it a week or so after root pruning and potting around March '16.
The idea was to have an apex slightly lower than where the highest foliage was in the photo, you can see however that the leaves aren't looking very healthy on the tree and it went on to drop them all.
I think the pruning which I did at the time of repotting could have led to this as I've since read that pruning is better during hot weather for olives? I don't know if this applies to root pruning as well?
I was worried about the tree and left it in a sheltered/shaded/ sunny spot and watered carefully until a couple of months later it had leafed out again from new buds which had previously formed. At this point I was thinking carefully about what new styling was to be done with it as I hadn't been entirely happy with the large informal upright design. The straight section of trunk which lacked taper was a concern, the height/ trunk width ratio another and the image of an olive tree wasn't really there.
Here's how the recovered tree looked:
At the time I had a look online for ideas when I came across this forum and saw a members olive bonsai where they were doing something similar in deciding to reduce the size of the tree to create a more natural olive image.
So I decided on reducing the trunk size and thread grafting a couple of branches in place where I hope they can form part of the main branch framework. I reckon on having these two along with one or more from the trunk as a framework as well as a lower branch coming out of the trunk where it swells already.
This is how it stood after working on the tree, the new sets of leaves have since opened/ grown out on the grafted branches (and wire removed before winter).
Here's an idea of the framework I hope for:
And here's what the foliage silhouette could look like in years to come:
Feedback/ suggestions very much appreciated! Thanks.
I bought it as a bonsai but it ended up sat outside, was potted onto a larger plant pot and ignored for many yrs until my interest in practising bonsai came back.
I potted it into smaller pots and root pruned over a couple of years whilst trying to air layer a low down branch. This layering didn't take once removed and it created large swollen bumps on the lower trunk which you can see in the pics.
So in 2015 I started to style it into an informal upright and then bought a new pot for it at the end of the year, this picture shows it a week or so after root pruning and potting around March '16.
The idea was to have an apex slightly lower than where the highest foliage was in the photo, you can see however that the leaves aren't looking very healthy on the tree and it went on to drop them all.
I think the pruning which I did at the time of repotting could have led to this as I've since read that pruning is better during hot weather for olives? I don't know if this applies to root pruning as well?
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1373.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fag383%2FHamletCraftworks%2FDSC_0376_zpstywxdmba.jpg&hash=bdb93ae7126a0b7197d3a55840468529)
I was worried about the tree and left it in a sheltered/shaded/ sunny spot and watered carefully until a couple of months later it had leafed out again from new buds which had previously formed. At this point I was thinking carefully about what new styling was to be done with it as I hadn't been entirely happy with the large informal upright design. The straight section of trunk which lacked taper was a concern, the height/ trunk width ratio another and the image of an olive tree wasn't really there.
Here's how the recovered tree looked:
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1373.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fag383%2FHamletCraftworks%2FDSC_0647%2520-%2520Copy_zpsxgm1pcmt.jpg&hash=040d5e7456ad277c4c08a778b02bac3a)
At the time I had a look online for ideas when I came across this forum and saw a members olive bonsai where they were doing something similar in deciding to reduce the size of the tree to create a more natural olive image.
So I decided on reducing the trunk size and thread grafting a couple of branches in place where I hope they can form part of the main branch framework. I reckon on having these two along with one or more from the trunk as a framework as well as a lower branch coming out of the trunk where it swells already.
This is how it stood after working on the tree, the new sets of leaves have since opened/ grown out on the grafted branches (and wire removed before winter).
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1373.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fag383%2FHamletCraftworks%2FDSC_0691_zps9snit3ar.jpg&hash=4d7e4ed5c0b2243c506373a78e26c297)
Here's an idea of the framework I hope for:
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1373.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fag383%2FHamletCraftworks%2Fbasicbranch_zpsh5l0gjms.jpg&hash=7dc4d907bbca4864c79053b702f97406)
And here's what the foliage silhouette could look like in years to come:
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi1373.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fag383%2FHamletCraftworks%2Fbasicfoliage_zps4qjjh2fq.jpg&hash=eb65d8d40f3ea0f3e8f4bddb25357163)
Feedback/ suggestions very much appreciated! Thanks.