Orchard Olives Worth Collecting?

[dtkabardin]

I went out to an orchard that is selling their olive trees because they’re converting the whole plot to grow rice instead. The orchard is 8 years old. I wanted to ask you guys if it’s worth the time to get one.
They mostly all look the same, very thick straight trunks, but a couple were interesting.
This is what most of them look like.



Here are the 2 im interested in. Do these have any potential and would they be worth the time and effort for you to develop? It would need a massive chop.



Here’s the 2nd one, from a couple different angles.




What would you do? They’re pretty cheap at $50/each but my concern is the time/effort investment. Thanks.

 

[19Mateo83]

Definitely worth getting. Olives are very hardy and can take the big chops. You can also root some large cuttings from them.

 

[dtkabardin]

Definitely worth getting. Olives are very hardy and can take the big chops. You can also root some large cuttings from them.

Good to hear! Am I okay doing a major trunk chop, and collecting these during this time of year? Seems that much work would kill any tree, no? I’m in california, so things start to come out of dormancy in February.

 

[Shibui]

Olives transplant easily. You don't even need to get many roots. Sometimes we dig down, chop through the widest part of the trunk with a chainsaw and transplant the stump as a giant cutting.
They also sprout well after trunk chop, even way down low on a large trunk.
We usually chop and transplant in one operation.
I've collected olives successfully in Spring, early Summer and Autumn. Have not tried Winter collection yet.

Having said that olives transplant well I'm not sure orchard olives are the best option for future bonsai. $50 is reasonable for trunks this size but don't be fooled into thinking you'll have a bonsai in a couple of years. The trunks have little taper so you'll need a big chop and then either wait for a new leader to grow to match the trunk or do some clever carving to disguise the trunk chop. Either way it will probably be 10-20 years before you have a great bonsai from these trunks.

When we are collecting feral olives around here we look for trees with a swollen lignotuber and multi trunks which gives more instant taper when some of the trunks are removed.