Collected Olive

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Matt S
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Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

This Olive was repotted today and I realised I don't have any older photos of it, so I'm starting this progression to prompt me into recording it's progress.

I collected this from Brownhill creek in the Adelaide foothills about 5 years ago. Although the bark doesn't show much age, I dug this tree because of the nice base and movement. It doesn't look like much has happened in 5 years because all the branches had to be grown from scratch and I needed the lower branches and apex to thicken up considerably before I even thought of secondary branches. Large trunks need thick branches so a tree this big takes a few years to thicken up the base of the branch before cutting it back hard. The three lowest branches were cut back last winter and the lowest left branch will be cut back further once a few more shoots appear and I have something to cut back to. The resulting branches were wired into place into Autumn and once again I'll let them grow a bit before cutting back hard to get some taper.

It was planted in a large mica training pot and doesn't reflect what I think the final pot will look like.
olive collected.JPG
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Ryceman3 »

Great base on that tree Matt and the branching looks to be progressing well, lots of stuff in the right places. Good job, I like it now, and most likely I'll like it even more as it progresses. :yes:
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

Time for an update on this one.

There's been lots of growth as expected, although not as much as I would have liked on the lower branches. As usual, the strongest shoots have been those on the tops of the branches facing up.
olive Jan18 before trim.jpg
After the trim - I've left a lot of the lower branches quite long as they still need to thicken up before I cut them back. I cut off some of the strong upward growth where it wasn't wanted and wired some of the secondary branches. I often wire branches into interesting shapes even if I intend to cut most of it off later just to give me an idea of the future style. The back branch is still pretty messy and makes it hard to see the left hand side branches clearly, but I'm happy with the progress.
olive Jan18 aftertrim.jpg
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

Last night I cleaned up this tree ready for spring growth. Most of the primary and some of the secondary branches have thickened up sufficiently so now it's time to wire up the finer ones. My plan is to avoid defined clouds of foliage and have a much more open look, so I'm hoping to move to a more clip and grow method in the future. I'll also need to do something about the deadwood section, maybe even hollow it out.
olive Aug18.jpg
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Raging Bull »

Hi Matt, This tree is starting to look the goods now, A good base for the future development. Have you thought of extending the Jin further down the trunk, perhaps right to ground level? That option jumped out at me as soon as I saw how the tree looks now. Cheers, Frank.
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

Hi Frank,

Yeah, extending the deadwood down to the base is an option, it's something you see in the really ancient olives. My reservation is that it might interrupt the nice sweeping movement of the trunk. When I get a chance I'll knock up a virt and see how it could be done.

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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Raging Bull »

Hi Matt, Re the jin, if you "go with the flow" and follow the nice curves of the trunk it should work a treat. Just my :2c: .
Cheers, Frank.
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by MJL »

Thanks for posting Matt. You chose well with the movement at the base and it's coming along a treat. Well done.

On the Jin ... I can see both sides. Hmmmm.... tread with caution I reckon - it could look great ....extending it to the ground ... but I can also see why, in a natural setting, the Jin would end where it ends breaking off at the apex of the outer curve.

I look forward to watching this progress. :yes:
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

I worked on this tree today for the first time in a while. Growth had slowed down considerably as the tree had become potbound, so it was repotted last August and it responded nicely, although I'm annoyed that I missed out on 12 months of good growth.

I've wired lots of the branches into arch shapes as that's what I've noticed really old olives do. I've also started extending the shari further down the trunk as discussed previously and I'm leaning towards getting it all the way to the ground. I think this time next year it might be ready for a proper pot.
olive Jan 20.JPG

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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Jake fowler »

Looking good Matt
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

It's been over 12 months since I updated this thread as I haven't done much to this tree other than just letting it grow. As the ramification has improved the growth has slowed down and there haven't been as many rampant shoots that need to be controlled. Still not ready for a proper pot but I'm going to start looking, and I'm still thinking about how far to take down the shari. I'll put together some virts when I get the chance.

olive collected Apr 21 before .jpg
olive collected Apr 21.JPG


Next Spring I reckon I might defoliate the whole tree so I can get a better look at the structure.

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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Watto »

I'd be interested in the results of a defoliation. I have a few olives and have never really thought about defoliation and it would be informative to see how they react and bounce back.
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

I will occasionally fully defoliate my Olives and there's never been an issue. I know some people who defoliate multiple times over summer. Just make sure the tree is healthy and that you give yourself plenty of time to do it!
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by KIRKY »

As the leaves are already small on Olives, what benefits are you getting from the defoliation Matt?
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Matt S
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Re: Collected Olive

Post by Matt S »

As the leaves are already small on Olives, what benefits are you getting from the defoliation Matt?
Leaf size varies considerably in the wild olives we get around here, and a straight kalamata has quite large leaves, so size reduction is sometimes necessary. Defoliation is also handy for seeing the branch structure clearly and makes wiring easier. Every 5 years or so I also need to replace the leaders on all the branches and thin out the foliage, and once again this is much easier to do when there are no leaves.

Here's an example of the really fine, precise ramification you can get on olives (if that's what you want):
https://carthago2009.blogspot.com/2013/ ... o-y-3.html
(The blog is in Spanish but the pictures at the bottom show what can be achieved with regular defoliation and wiring)

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