AusBonsai

Hi there yep this would be the side i would work from for now just keep it happy an wait for spring then i would cut it back like the picture below an feed it well, it should shoot well which will allow you to pick the branches you want to keep

ADO wrote:

Craig wrote:Adrian, the rear looks fantastic. Now you need to find some middle ground and go to work .

Hi Craig, thanks for chiming in

I like this side too as the front. I assume I will have to wait until spring to work on this tree? I like the idea of a short fat tree although that would assume that this means chopping the top off so the tree will bud back on the trunk. Thoughts, ideas?
Cheers

It doesn't necessarily mean you need to chop the top off Adrian. You could cut back now but reshooting may be slower than when warmer, no real harm in doing it now if your real keen .
What you want to do is try and find a front (angle) for your tree which can incorporate the already carved trunk, be that through further carving or removal of certain sections to allow some dead wood as part of the feature. You may even need to alter the planting angle somewhat .If you were to use the back(which is uncarved) as the front then the new back(carved) would be basically , well , nothing, not really a good design to have the feature(carving ) at the rear(unseen)

Craig wrote:

ADO wrote:

Craig wrote:Adrian, the rear looks fantastic. Now you need to find some middle ground and go to work .

Hi Craig, thanks for chiming in

I like this side too as the front. I assume I will have to wait until spring to work on this tree? I like the idea of a short fat tree although that would assume that this means chopping the top off so the tree will bud back on the trunk. Thoughts, ideas?
Cheers

It doesn't necessarily mean you need to chop the top off Adrian. You could cut back now but reshooting may be slower than when warmer, no real harm in doing it now if your real keen .
What you want to do is try and find a front (angle) for your tree which can incorporate the already carved trunk, be that through further carving or removal of certain sections to allow some dead wood as part of the feature. You may even need to alter the planting angle somewhat .If you were to use the back(which is uncarved) as the front then the new back(carved) would be basically , well , nothing, not really a good design to have the feature(carving ) at the rear(unseen)

thanks for the advice Craig. I agree with what you said and will take it into consideration when looking for a suitable design plan. still considering the options such as wether to keep the tree a taller tree by using the existing branching or to chop and make one of the lower three branches a new leader. plenty of time to decide and I'm in no rush.

cheers

Olivecrazy wrote:Hi there yep this would be the side i would work from for now just keep it happy an wait for spring then i would cut it back like the picture below an feed it well, it should shoot well which will allow you to pick the branches you want to keep

thanks for taking the time to post a possible plan for my olive. In two minds as to which side to use but i'm thinking that I can refine the carved side and make it more of a feature maybe hollow it out a little and make it more interesting. Still, i'm a relative newbie so I have plenty of time to take all these points into consideration. A small sumo tree is also an attractive option will be fun in spring!

thanks again mate