I don't think I've posted this olive before even though I've had it for many years. It was collected about 15 years ago in the Adelaide hills on a club dig with only the original stump, so all the branches and apex have been grown from scratch. Back then I shaped all my olives based on classic Japanese styles, so this is an informal upright with the characteristic alternating branches all the way to the apex. The foliage was clipped into distinct pads with clear negative spaces between the branches. A lot of the branches were well tapered but were quite straight. From 2017 to 2019 it was in the NBPCA and this is how it looked back then:
When the tree was returned from loan I decided it was time for a makeover. The first thing I did was cut the branches back by about half and wired new leaders into position. The sharis were extended and a few new ones were added. I didn't want such clipped pads so I've been wiring new shoots into arches and starting to fill in the spaces. It started as an informal upright and I'm not about to change that, but I want the branches to be less structured. The branch at the bottom left was left to thicken up the live vein and I was toying with doing something with it, but it will probably be removed soon. The planting position is all wrong and needs to be moved to the left of center, and the formal pot will be replaced with something softer.
I find it interesting how our tastes change over time. I'll keep my older olives in their original style, but newer additions will be more in keeping with how they grow in the wild. For now I'm happy to have both types.
Matt.
Informal Upright Olive
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Matt S
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Informal Upright Olive
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GavinG
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Re: Informal Upright Olive
For me, it's a big improvement. The shorter branches make the trunk stand out more, and the more complex branch structure gives me much more to enjoy.
There will be a lot of different opinions on neat vs complex branch structures, each to his own, but neat branches seem to be valued just because they are neat - to look at, they seem to me to be much the same. Mind you, I'm perennially untidy at everything...
Gavin
There will be a lot of different opinions on neat vs complex branch structures, each to his own, but neat branches seem to be valued just because they are neat - to look at, they seem to me to be much the same. Mind you, I'm perennially untidy at everything...
Gavin
