Why Not Take Olive Me . . .

[ColinFraser]

As you can see in the above photo, and this closeup, I filled the empty space at the top of one of the 15# pots with old bonsai soil last year sometime, burying the trunk much deeper than it would eventually be planted.



It worked like a charm to promote tons of new roots close to the trunk, and above the giant ones I'm sure are in that pot. Just tipping the pot and shaking off the top layer revealed exactly what I wanted:



A cross section of the pot shows it clearly:



All those fine roots at the top are new. The old soil line is still visible where the dry part starts.

 

[ColinFraser]

That made it pretty easy to leave the bottom half behind using my trusty rusty loppers



A quick rinse, and here's the raw material:



Getting there, but there's still a big chunk of fused large roots in the center of those finer ones.

 

[ColinFraser]

Ah, much better! I also contoured the trunk chop a bit, and removed some more branches. I'm not sure if I'll keep the small trunk.



Check that out! Completely flat on the bottom! It seems so easy now, posting this two days later, but that took forever with hand tools and the die grinder!

 

[ColinFraser]

Now that I'm amassing a decent pile of pots, it's really nice to be able to test drive a few mid repotting. I considered using this one from John Cannon:



Along with this shallow unglazed oval:

 

[ColinFraser]

Oval it is. This tree isn't nice enough for that other pot



There it sits for now, ready for a warm and productive growing season. I'm not sure if I'll get to any more of them right now, but you know I'll keep this updated if I do.

 

[ColinFraser]

View attachment 136513

It lives!! Hahah

 

[M. Frary]

It lives!! Hahah

It seems to have taken it's time.
But it's going to be cool.

 

[M. Frary]

@cole morton and @BeebsBonsai.
Check out how this was treated.
Heavy root and crown reduction all at once.

 

[ColinFraser]

It seems to have taken it's time.
But it's going to be cool.

Yeah, it did absolutely nothing for at least 2-3 months before the first little buds appeared - I wasn't falling for the "play dead" routine though

 

[M. Frary]

Yeah, it did absolutely nothing for at least 2-3 months before the first little buds appeared - I wasn't falling for the "play dead" routine though

Do olives usually act like that? I would have been a little worried.
It's looking good now though.

 

[Velodog2]

Cuz yer Ulmus on my mind ...

 

[Adair M]

Yeah, it did absolutely nothing for at least 2-3 months before the first little buds appeared - I wasn't falling for the "play dead" routine though

Colin, you're doing great work! I'm not sure that particular trunk was worth the time and effort, but your technique is great! I'm thinking it would look better much shorter.., and putting it back in a grow box.

But your root work is superb! Good luck with them!

 

[ColinFraser]

Colin, you're doing great work! I'm not sure that particular trunk was worth the time and effort, but your technique is great! I'm thinking it would look better much shorter.., and putting it back in a grow box.

But your root work is superb! Good luck with them!

Thanks man; I really appreciate it!
I'm inclined to agree regarding that trunk -that's one of the reasons it just went straight into an inexpensive bonsai pot instead of being grown out - I can make it look like something nice relatively quickly and then trade/sell/gift it and move on

 

[ColinFraser]

Finally getting back to the one that started this thread (and went in the time capsule). Here’s a flyby summary/update:





The pot is by American potter Dick Ryerson

 

[Colorado]

Love your progression threads. Keep ‘em coming! ?

 

[ColinFraser]

Love your progression threads. Keep ‘em coming! ?

Thank you!

 

[SniffingKrylon]

That one is turning out awesome. Did the chainsawed one survive?

 

[ColinFraser]

That one is turning out awesome. Did the chainsawed one survive?

Sadly, no.