[Pearcy] Olive First Styling

[Pearcy001]

Cheeky update on this one.

Has put on some growth in the 6 months since it was styled. I seem to be rubbing buds off more often than I water the tree haha.

I shall continue the slanting/windswept style and decide on its final design once I get the apex to fill out. I not sure about the current leader but time will tell (the branch coming up to the left is just a sacrifice to thicken the base of the leader).

Couple of photos for your perusal.


Front.


Back.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

[split007]

Looks healthy Pearcy001. Good stuff!

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[Pearcy001]

Seeking some advice if I may.

This tree was one of the first trees I attempted to give a styling to from somewhat rawish stock. It is still absolutly no where near finished as you can tell, still in it's early development stage (and by no way a bonsai as yet). Due to it being initially styled so early on in my bonsai journey, the trunk chop I made was hidious

After removing the sealer this weekend, I've come to the conclusion that this will not be able to be rectified properly without a new trunk chop being made further down the trunk.

Attached is a photo of the tree at current, as well as a photo with the proposed new leader circled. The tree is tilted a little to far over in the attached photos (I put it there quickly for a photo) and will be slightly more upright once potted - in many years.





(In the third photo the tree is not rotated forward toward the viewer like the other two photos, so the movement goes further back than it will once it's eventually potted up.)



Now to my question;

This one sat dormant through the strong summer heat, but is beginning to push out fresh new growth for the past couple weeks. Just wondering if I would be right to do a trunk chop now, or would it be best to wait until July when the tree is thoroughly dormant?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[Matt S]

Hi Pearcy,

I'd do it now while there is still some growing season left and the Olive has time to recover. I always prefer to do major pruning on my olives while they are growing.

Your tree looks nice and healthy. If you want really strong growth consider a bigger training pot and keep up the fertilizer.

Matt.

[Pearcy001]

Thanks for the reply Matt.

I'll get to chopping later today. I'll maybe even consider trying to Jin beyond the new leader to make it appear as a broken old branch? Not sure how it will look though, but it's half just so I can try a Jin.

Fertilizer is still happening fortnightly for the olive, it will be reduced to monthly a little closer to the end of Autumn probably.

As far as a larger training pot goes. I'll be giving it something a bit bigger next repot, it's current pot was what it was purchased in. I'll probably repot just before spring.

Cheers again,
Pearcy.

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[Pearcy001]

Possibilities for the future.

A virt of the possible jin with the new leader.
Thoughts/ideas welcome.











Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[Matt S]

Sounds like you have everything under control.

The Jin could add a bit of interest but you can always remove it later if it doesn't work. I'll assume you've added cut paste as you've used it in the past - Olives appreciate it.

Matt.

[Pearcy001]

So this morning I made my first ever attempt at a Jin. Feel free to tell me anything that's wrong with it, as well as any after care advice would be greatly appreciated although I don't believe any is? In the end I made the lowest point stop slightly higher than the virt, as I can always make it longer in the future.

I am unsure if the stub to the left works, but i dont mind it so think I will keep it for now. The attempted carving was done with the corner of a blunt chisels only, so took some time. Next time I'm investing in some power tools.











Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[Watto]

I quite like the new look. Probably best now to let that work settle into the tree and also let some foliage develop around it as that will soften the appearance.

[Pearcy001]

Hi all, has anyone had success repotting olives this time of year in Melbourne or should I just do the right thing and wait for Spring?

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[shibui]

I have mostly repotted olives late spring/ early summer but others assure me they can be repotted and collected all year round.
On the strength of that advice I am organising a club olive dig for early March so fingers crossed. If they can survive the trauma of collecting from the wild, simple repotting should be no problem at all.

We have seen growing numbers of our advanced bonsai growers moving to more autumn repotting of many species - evergreen and occasionally deciduous. Olives are pretty tough so I assume they would have no problem with autumn repotting.

Note that all the above is theory and second hand advice. I have not actually done any of it - yet.

[Max]

NIce going Pearcy, quite like your jin interesting how you cut it, just wondering if you'll have to widen the cut because of the eventual callusing? or is that not a prob

cheers
Max

[Pearcy001]

Thanks Shibui. Main reason I want to repot now is the mix holds too much water for far too long and it appears to be affecting the tree. I try keep it as dry as possible but the second I give it more water than it wants some of the foliage becomes affected. To add to frustration it's currently raining outside! Although if anyone feels I have come to the wrong diagnosis please feel free to jump in.



Only in spots do the leaves change like this. The olive doesn't even get watered every day! Plan is to put it in something much more free draining to get the vigour back up.


Hi No Idea, no issues with the callousing thus far and it's nearly 12 months on. Not sure if olives just don't really callous or what? I don't seem to have any swelling what so ever around the cut.

Pads have filled out and ramified dramatically since then Jin work was attempted but I still need that leader to really take off and thicken. Hopefully a repot into a new mix can give it the energy to power on this year or I may need to consider cutting the branches right back to redirect energy to it.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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[shibui]

Brown leaves can be from poor roots or too dry. In both cases the tree cannot get enough water so the symptoms are similar.

When there is serious doubt about the roots or mix I'd always repot regardless of the season.

Olives do callus but pretty slowly I think. In all cases shari (dead wood on the trunk) will heal over and usually need to b re cut. The callus around the edges lays down more layers of wood so widening shari or extending jin slowly over years reveals great textures and grain in the dead wood.

[AirControl]

I repot 90% of my trees in autumn with very good results. The remaining 10% I repot in spring due to lack of time. I live in zone 9b.


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