Big Olive

[Jhalkhoree]

Hi Everyone,
I recently purchased this monster olive via EBay from someone who sadly has to sell all his trees due to unforeseen circumstances.

The circumference of the base is over 70cm and it is currently 60 cm high. It is currently planted in pure sand and I have been told the base is much fatter than that under the sand. The tree looks healthy and growing well.

I plan to build a wooden pot for it during winter and repot it towards end of spring and let it grow for a season or two?

However I would like some advice from my olive expert colleagues before I proceed.

Any advice would be more than welcome.

Thank you

Jay

[Brian]

Hmmm, it doesn't appear to have any taper. Unless you grow it broom style, it will be a challenge to turn that material into a bonsai.

[Jhalkhoree]

Thanks Brian,

It is certainly a huge challenge. When I first saw it I thought this tree has two options:

Option 1 - turn it into a huge broom style bonsai.
Option 2: dump it into the ground, grow and enjoy the olives.

I am going for option 1 for now and see how the tree responds.

Jay

[Steve B]

Option 3: carve it to burgery!

Check out kaizenbonsai.com for some inspiration and if it tweaks an idea, start practicing the fine art of tree butchery

[Peterji]

I like Brian's option 3 - Carve it! Possibly adjust the planting angle a little and do a radical reduction on the trunk. Check this out for another source of inspiration: http://www.sidiao.com/index_e.htm

[joshw]

I would go with option 3 too...

[alpineart]

Hi Jay , mate i would not hesitate to roll it out of the pot now and check out whats under ground . I have had these growing in sand trays for a couple of years after flat cutting the bases . Rather than carving the whole trunk another option would be to split it into 2 trunks .

I collected one with our club that had been split with possibly a road grader , rough bark one side natural split timber the other side . This gave me 2 options or 2 fronts to the same trunk . When measuring a trunk lay a piece of timber each side and measure the diameter , its easier for people to get an idea of the thickness of the base or trunk .

Cheers Alpineart

[shibui]

Just a quick calculation will give you diameter Alpine - 72 cm circumference = 22.9 cm diameter

I do agree with the others. these stumps are not the best bonsai material and will take lots of time to make something good. Quickest option is carving the trunk and growing a new canopy but this does take some skill. Bigger is not always best

[Jhalkhoree]

Thanks guys for all the comments and suggestions. Looks like I will have to learn the art of carving. Well I have sometime to master the skill while growing branches on this ugly duckling. First step is to transplant in a better growing pot/box and better growing medium.

Will keep you posted on progression.

Jay

[Andrew Legg]

Unless you plan to carve a SIGNIFICANT amount of wood off that tree (which means investing in a chainsaw, and die grinder and a dremel-type tool plus bits), I'd pop it in the ground and just enjoy it as a tree. You could get by with a chainsaw, and a grizzly bear on red-bull, which will save you some wedge, but will be logistically more challenging. either way, i'd still pop it in the ground!

[Andrew Legg]

Actually, I've rethought my statement. You can probably drop the chainsaw and bear, but you'll still need a big carving tool of sorts! Good luck!

[Sean M]

I watched an arbortech attachment on an angle grinder today attack an olive. I reckon at a minimum that is what you would need.

[Jhalkhoree]

Thanks Guys for the comments and suggestions. I forgot to mention that I got an Arbotech mini grinder for my birthday last year and my wife gave me a Die Grinder for Christmas. I have not used the Arbotech or the Die grinder yet simply because we are in the middle of a major house Reno and I have no spare time to play with my new toys. I need to get some bits/tools for the grinder.

Cheers

Jay