Stuck on a olive

[19Mateo83]

I’m at the point with this olive where I need suggestions as to where to trim it to encourage good back budding and suggestions on which direction to take it. All I’ve done is repot it and have been keeping the tips trimmed. It has a pretty good radial root system already so now it’s time to pick a form for it. Any suggestions?

 

[Zerobear]

Cut one inch above the second or third bud? Another option would be to do nothing this year. As a 72-year-old with an artificial mitral valve and pacemaker, I would not enjoy doing that, because most days, i feel like I'm pushing the envelope when I consider buying green bananas. Are you thinking about a shape yet? Probably not. If no shape presents itself, do nothing this year and let it grow more. Since it is an olive, you still have 2,000 years to enjoy it.

 

[Shogun610]

Plant it in the ground, it’s nowhere near suggestions on styling or what to do. You should take a look at two wild olives on the 99 cent bonsai auction group.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

A bit of rafia and wire... And go with your imagination.. hehe

 

[19Mateo83]

A bit of rafia and wire... And go with your imagination.. hehe

I did have the branches wired down with guy wires all winter. When I got it all the branches were in a straight line

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I like the suggestion of growing this lil guy out for a couple years. I’ve been doing this for the past two years and the trees are all starting to leap… which has caused name to plant ecen more in the garden.

Three good years with proper care will give you a tree worth working slowly towards a pot.… and give you time to begin work on other project.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[19Mateo83]

Thank you for the suggestions

 

[tangledtanuki]

You don't have to worry about back budding. Here in Israel we find stumps that would be going on the wood pile after they take out tree's and they end up growing roots and sprouting again. So I would maybe wire it to give some movement and put it in the ground to thicken up a bit.

 

[Shibui]

The reason you can't work out how to style this tree is there's not enough to style.
I agree with the other suggestions that this one really needs to grow so there's a trunk and some branches to style around.

 

[tangledtanuki]

Here's an example of stumps I found in a field in the middle of August which is our hottest driest month. So not the best conditions to find stumps in after a few days. Yet I still got around a 50% survival rate.

 

[19Mateo83]

View attachment 420700

Here's an example of stumps I found in a field in the middle of August which is our hottest driest month. So not the best conditions to find stumps in after a few days. Yet I still got around a 50% survival rate.

That’s a pile of olive stumps! Do you have any suggestions on preferred fertilizer for olives?

 

[Shibui]

Olives are becoming an environmental weed down here so we also dig advanced olive trunks and have good survival at all times of the year.
Olives are not fussy about fertilizer. Provided it has nutrients in it they won't complain.

 

[tangledtanuki]

Olives are becoming an environmental weed down here so we also dig advanced olive trunks and have good survival at all times of the year.
Olives are not fussy about fertilizer. Provided it has nutrients in it they won't complain.

What he said ☝☝☝

 

[rockm]

Thank you for the suggestions

FWIW, You are probably too far North to plant this in the ground--zone 7 or so. There are a few varieties of olive (olea Europa) that can take frost, but sustained freezes are a death sentence mostly--Arbequina, Manzanilla, Mission and a couple of others are marginally hardy to Zone 7...In my experience with hardier varieties in Texas, it takes a couple of years but they decline and die off. Tried for years to grow an Arbequina at my folks place in East Texas. Die back in the spring after even a light winter of freezes killed it off gradually...

 

[19Mateo83]

FWIW, You are probably too far North to plant this in the ground--zone 7 or so. There are a few varieties of olive (olea Europa) that can take frost, but sustained freezes are a death sentence mostly--Arbequina, Manzanilla, Mission and a couple of others are marginally hardy to Zone 7...In my experience with hardier varieties in Texas, it takes a couple of years but they decline and die off. Tried for years to grow an Arbequina at my folks place in East Texas. Die back in the spring after even a light winter of freezes killed it off gradually...

I have no clue what kind this one is other than it’s a olea europaea. It has done well this year in a pot and has survived our lowest temperature this winter (24f). I just got it out of the trash nursery soil it was in and into a proper mix and a larger pot. It should be good to grow this year.

 

[Dav4]

I had several O. europaea cuttings, struck from my shohin clump that I purchased from Boon, that survived all of last winter on a pot on a bench... frozen solid, lowest air temp was 18 F. With climates generally warming, I'd consider placing this one in the ground in your locale, hopefully in a fairly protected spot that get's full sun (probably too much to ask for but why not!) and protect the heck out of it next winter. You do absolutely risk the loss of the tree... but otherwise, you'll have a stick in a pot to stare at for the foreseeable future. Good luck.

 

[rockm]

I had several O. europaea cuttings, struck from my shohin clump that I purchased from Boon, that survived all of last winter on a pot on a bench... frozen solid, lowest air temp was 18 F. With climates generally warming, I'd consider placing this one in the ground in your locale, hopefully in a fairly protected spot that get's full sun (probably too much to ask for but why not!) and protect the heck out of it next winter. You do absolutely risk the loss of the tree... but otherwise, you'll have a stick in a pot to stare at for the foreseeable future. Good luck.

More likely, the tree in ground will die back to the roots over the winter, negating any progress on top growth...just sayin...saw this in N.E. Texas...500 miles further south

 

[Dav4]

More likely, the tree in ground will die back to the roots over the winter, negating any progress on top growth...just sayin...saw this in N.E. Texas...500 miles further south

I know of people that are growing them in the ground in mid GA... just not N GA where I lived. I actually considered planting my cuttings out but gave them away instead. Again, I'd risk it in his location. I've already got my collection of decent trees and can throw caution to the wind with stock like this .

 

[rockm]

I know of people that are growing them in the ground in mid GA... just not N GA where I lived. I actually considered planting my cuttings out but gave them away instead. Again, I'd risk it in his location. I've already got my collection of decent trees and can throw caution to the wind with stock like this .

Yep, they've been growing olives in Ga. for years, same in Texas...Thing is, most all of those orchards are in SOUTH Ga. near the Fla. line. In Texas they tend to be Central hill country into South Texas. I know they don't do very well much north of Austin and San Antonio. More north than that, siting is critical--western or southern exposure in an unshaded location preferably on a slope (cold air drains down) to keep the roots as warm as possible.

 

[choufleur]

I don’t have a lot of olive experience but FWIW, I have Olea europaea growing in south-facing balcony pots in Canadian zone 8b/9a. They flower and fruit later in the year than olives in the south due to the short winter days; our summer days are mediterranean and long. I’m planning to chop them for bonsai this year or next as they are 4 years old. Once they’re moved to small pots I’ll probably have to winterize them properly.

Here are some varieties that can grow in ground in this zone