AusBonsai

How difficult is it to achieve rough bark on olives?
Are different types more likely to rough up quickly?

The reason I ask is- I was at a nursery yesterday looking at and purchasing a couple of pines, when I was leaving I noticed the bark on a row of olives (none very large) with heaps of charachter. It has been on my mind all day that I should go back to check them out again.

Gerard

i think the corky like bark on olives is all bout time mate, those olives might have been sitting there for years, not put on much size but have been able to age.

mine is starting to get some roughness on it now, i beleive its bout 30 years old, wild tree collected.


jamie

Thanks Jamie
These will be cheap so it looks like I am going back

Gerard

thats the way mate

you might be able to wrap em all up and fuse them possible that will give you a nice trunk size if they are smallish, you could possibly find a tuber under the soil too


jamie

How difficult is it to achieve rough bark on olives?
Are different types more likely to rough up quickly?

it's all to do with age as i have collected quite a few olives and unless there larger mature trees the bark is quiet smooth.

as for types I'm unsure, go back and have a look as jamie states check under the soil to see what tuber may be hiding inside the pot

the first pic is an olive i got from a guy who took cuttings the red line shows what was actually hiding in the plastic pot. being in the pot the bark has started to look older even tho it's a 3 year old cutting.

the secod pic i dug this from the ground and it just shows how much is really hiding, the top of the red line was all that was showing before i dug it out. It is heaps older than the first but you can see it quite smooth for it's age

not all are the same it just or-depends on soil conditions ( rocky muddy sandy )

Hi guys,

Olives also vary greatly genetically. There are two big old gnarly trees in Gov house in sydney that are right next to eachother, and are the same age. Yet one forms big knobly structures like the one pictured above, whilst the other seems to have very prominent veination. The leaves and young bark look identical.

Joel

Today I went back for another look and purchased 3 trees This goes into a polybox for nowthis gets a hard prune and a polyboxthis one can go into a pot (I think it is the best one) Gerard

i like that last one gerard

theres another one there that will make some nice movement it looks like it was under the soil for a long time, you have done well mate

That last one is a ripper you can see the outcome from the cutting being under the ground. I wonder if this is the answer in getting other trees to get a quick result for corky bark trunks. Just a thought.

Wish some of our nurseries would get some stock like that. The only time I have seen 'reasonable' stock each plant was so large I couldn't even lift the empty pots they were in. Good olives just don't make it to Sydney and unless you can get a buy from a private collector who knows where to dig you just don't get a chance.

Thanks for the feedback, I think I was very lucky to stumble upon these. You will not get them at nurserys as I believe that the aged bark is achieved with the usual method...."waiting"
These were grown by an elderly man in his backyard in cement pots, his method is to lift them every few years and saw off the bottom half of the root ball replace some soil and put it back. Although they are quite small I believe they are probably about 10-15 years old.

Regards Gerard