Large olive tree to be removed, possible bonsai?

[bonsai_beginner]

Hey
So we have this large olive tree in our backyard that is needing to be removed. It's got an incredible base and trunk on it, but it's very big. Does this have any potential to become a bonsai?

Or should we just cut it down and discard it?

Any advice or help would be fantastic
Here is the tree






The little brush is to show the size of this trunk







Thank you
DK


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[Andrew Legg]

DK,

The only way I see this becoming a good bonsai is if you are a carving fanatic. On it's own and with out carving I think it is a lost cause.

Cheers,

Andrew

[bonsai_beginner]

Hahaha well I might just try and air layer then, because I'm a very very inexperienced carver


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[Andrew Legg]

No harm in practicing some techniques on it mate. If you have time, go for it. If you don't whip it out and send it to the mulcher, bu unless you carve the cojones out of it, it ain't gonna be a decent bonsai. I'm tempted to suggest your time may be better spent elsewhere...

[Andrew F]

Dig it. Chop its head off just above the bumpy part of the trunk. Disregard all styling options until this time next year. Your tastes will evolve dramatically between now and then.

[bonsai_beginner]

Is it safe to do a trunk chop followed by a root prune?


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[Andrew F]

Have a look at some if the previous threads dedicated to collecting olea. They can take a pounding. Put it into a styro box with a free drainng mix in a sunny warm position in the backyard and let it grow wild for a year.

[Andrew Legg]

Is it safe to do a trunk chop followed by a root prune?


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With an olive you can basically trunk chop it with a sawn off shot gun, dig it with a stick of dynamite and then put it in a bath of plant poison to recover and it will be fine. . . . . . . . well, almost . . . . . . . . . but I still think ya waistin' ya time. Sure, your tastes will change in a year, but the tree won't change much. It will still be a massive stump with little branches sticking out like pins on a pincushion . . . . Hedgehog bonsai style!! Again, for hotticultural purposes it will be a good project, but for bonsai purposes, dubious at best.

PS: The removal technique described above may be bad for your fence and ya neighbour's small dogs (although that could be a bonus!).

[Alan Peck]

Fantastic material you have there. Perfect for a beginer.
First cut it off about a mtr from the base this you can use as a lever when you remove.
Try to get and even root ball about 1/2 mtr in dia if you can.
Cut off any downward growing heavy roots as high as you can.
Now cut the top down again to a point just below the knobly bumps. Cut at an angle sloped back at say 20 degs.
Put in well draining mix in a polly box or bread crate. If the root ball will alow place at slight angle.
Keep it moist and feed and you will get new branchlets forming in no time, then the future of this tree will get exciting.
Below is an olive I collected in 2009 and I'm still developing it as the improvements are ongoing with radical carving.
This is by far the quickest way to get a half decent collection in the least amount of time. Aim at a tree after a few years no bigger than say 80 cms.
Enjoy.

Ian pics 174.jpg

P1010007.JPG

[Raymond]

Rip into it mate. Easy to do, lots of potential. Lots of posts on here to guide you...

[bonsai_beginner]

Love it! Thanks heaps for the support and advice guys. Definitely going to give it a real crack and try and develop it over time. It will be a great learning experience for myself as a beginner.

Hopefully get something nice out of it in 5-10 years time

Thanks guys


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[Andrew Legg]

So, I see I have not managed to put you off. Good!

Important is this. . . . . Alan's tree, which looks pretty decent has one thing going for it that yours doesn't. Character out of the starting blocks. You will have to develop that all yourself through carving. That's not a big deal, but unless you have the tools lying around its gonna cost you a fair bit of twack to get the setup going.

Something that Alan's tree suffers from is "big trunk thin branch yamadori syndrome". His tree gets away with it a bit because it does have a lot of character, and because he has done a pretty decent carving job. Your tree will have the same problem, exacerbated by he lack of inherent character, so I suggest planting it up into a big pot, and just leaving it for two years after it starts growing. Select the branches you will use in your design, and then you'll need to leave them growing for a few more years to thicken up a bit. I have quite a few big olives and they all suffer the same problem.

Cheers and good luck.

[bonsai_beginner]

Thanks for the added advice Andrew. I've got a few empty bread crates lying around so I figured I may as well give it a try. Simply cut it back as suggested by Alan and then let it grown out for a few years. Try and get some kind of character to it.
Would be a nice tree to practice some carving techniques on too. I've been looking at getting a die grinder recently, maybe this is a nice push to find one in the near future.

Thank you


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[terry.muller2]

Good advice from Andrew F

[Reece]

Fantastic material you have there. Perfect for a beginer.
First cut it off about a mtr from the base this you can use as a lever when you remove.
Try to get and even root ball about 1/2 mtr in dia if you can.
Cut off any downward growing heavy roots as high as you can.
Now cut the top down again to a point just below the knobly bumps. Cut at an angle sloped back at say 20 degs.
Put in well draining mix in a polly box or bread crate. If the root ball will alow place at slight angle.
Keep it moist and feed and you will get new branchlets forming in no time, then the future of this tree will get exciting.
Below is an olive I collected in 2009 and I'm still developing it as the improvements are ongoing with radical carving.
This is by far the quickest way to get a half decent collection in the least amount of time. Aim at a tree after a few years no bigger than say 80 cms.
Enjoy.

Ian pics 174.jpg

P1010007.JPG

Ok that's frigen awesome mate!

Wow.....

Best of luck with yours BB.

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