Woa ho Lots of Olives

[Chris]

The best way collect the olives greth is place tarps under the tree then climb threw it and hit the branches with a bit of 4X2

Looking good Brett 3 of my multi trunks have gone nuts time to cut them right back.

[Greth]

Nothing an active 16 year old who climbs like a monkey can't cope with, Chris! Mind you some of the olives may be oil before they hit the ground..

[Bretts]

One and a half years since collecting and I need to make some decisions. I think Graeme was right and I should have committed to a decision back when collecting but better late than never.

I am still not sure where to go with this one but I will be making a decision and taking action this afternoon. It just depends on you guys and how many beers it takes
After ruling out turning the trunk into a mountain with small trees growing off it I removed all the suckers for a better look.
There are some very interesting angles and aged wood that I would love to find a way to use but I keep coming back utilising the root base to it's fullest. The main problem here is that the thickest and there fore normally the tallest trunk is on the left. Logically this would make the middle trunk the next tallest and the right the smallest. This will leave me with a foliage area that slopes from left to right but I think it should be taller in the middle.
I could bring the larger trunk to the front. This would cause the tree to look like a twin trunk with the third trunk being utilised at the back of the tree. Maybe not ideal but another possibility.
It is also tempting to think about using the convexed (back) as the front. This is interesting but from memory although it still has a decent root base the proposed front base is alot better.

olive 002.jpg

olive 006.jpg

olive 007.jpg

olive 008.jpg

olive 009.jpg

olive 010.jpg

Any ideas are encouraged. If you want any different angles give a holar but be quick I could be chopping at any time.
You can see the trunks bare rooted bare of branches for a better idea a page back on this thread which gives a cleaner view of the problem.

Maybe I will start with one of the smaller olives while I wait for the answer to come

[Bretts]

Here is something like where I keep comming back to. Very short but effective.

olive 00virt.jpg

[Bretts]

Too late

olive 018.jpg

This big guy got the chop about a month back and started to shoot a couple of weeks ago again.

olive 023.jpg

[MattA]

Hey Brett,

I was out working in the yard & missed your post, I would have kept more height in the main trunk. The middle trunk starts very high up & to me looks more like an oversize branch than a trunk and it also conceals too much of the 3rd trunk and they become a blur. If you removed it & carved for taper you would have the start of a really nice twin trunk.

Matt

Ps Hows the turtle back looking, have you done any work on it yet?

[Bretts]

Hi Matt
I can move it around to fully show the third trunk. When it grows back some I can fine tune the carving and maybe change the front slightly. You can call it a trunk or a branch it does not really worry me. In my minds eye I am treating them similar to one sumo like trunk. I figure the leaders will need to thicken considerably to be convincing so the height will increase again.
Still a loooong way to go for this guy. I think it is possible that the middle trunk after carving becomes non existent but at the moment I am heading towards my crappy virt.
Thanks

Oh and the turtle back could be doing better. I have most of the olives around the side of the house and the care there is not perfect. Any other species would be dead. This one is not as healthy as the pics suggest with some fungus or bug attacking the leaves at the moment. The larger trunks are towards the house on the turtle back with less sun and from looking the other day I may have lost one or two.
It is next on the list. We will see

[Olivecrazy]

Nice olive trees you have with the multi trunk i would of left it a little higher an tried this type of thing would take some time tho to get the trunks right all depends on how high you like your trees by looking at the trunk size tree would end up about 60-75 cm tall maybe.

[Craig]

Hi Brett , i think you've made a good choice taking that much off , i can't wait to see it progress. good work mate

Here is something like where I keep comming back to. Very short but effective.

olive 00virt.jpg

[Bretts]

Hi OC
A twin trunk could be nice as you suggest but I don't know if I could have brought myself to get rid of a third of that nebari.
My plan will take a long time as well
Thanks

Hi Craig
Thanks, something I should have mentioned to Matt was I am thinking like a sumo but at the same time wanted the three trunks for something not simply sumo. I was surprised the left trunk being the highest did not upset me so much in the virt so then it was a given for me.