Chopped and ReChopped Olive

[ColinFraser]

Ok...

What are your goals? You stated you want a bigger, curvier lower right branch. What else?

My observations:

You're trying to grow out this tree, you need to let it grow. Let it grow out whips about 10 inches long before you cut back. A larger pot would help. You might be able to bend that first branch, might not.

Don't pinch it. Let it grow out. Then cut back and wire. See my before and after pictures on the Before and After thread of my olive.

Thanks for your input. I haven't cut anything since the repot, and I'll take your advice and continue to resist the temptation to prune new shoots back to pairs for now. I'm also holding off on any wiring, partly because I forgot to wire it into the pot, and I don't want to mess up the new growing roots by jostling it around. Once it's bushy again, it should be able to handle both

As far as goals go, there are a few things I'd like to work on:
1)In addition to thickening the first right branch, it and the first left branch could stand to come forward more - the front is a little too flat or open.

2)Speaking of that lowest left branch, it is doing a disproportionate amount of the work when it comes to the overall canopy (especially visible in the overhead shots). I'd like to reduce it some and let a back branch take over some of that work/space.

3)The top needs to run a bit as well, to improve the taper of the transition into the apex.

4)I lost a shoot near the top after the repot, and you can see in the photo where the trunk is wet that there is a dead chunk (brown, upper right) there that could be carved/nibbled down to improve trunk taper.

5)What I consider the front isn't aligned properly with the pot - it was all I could do to get it in there! If I'm being completely honest, one of the reasons I put it into this pot was to see if I could pull it off; a bigger one would certainly give me more steam for development, but I am really enjoying this as a palmable tree too
Next repot will at least see it rotated a bit . . .

 

[sorce]

jostling

Nice! Good word!

Sorce

 

[coppice]

I will die using only osmocoat. It doesn't pefume the tree to the point at which vermin dine on my trees.

 

[JudyB]

I like your direction for this tree, you've thought it thru well. Now you need to see the roadblocks you're putting in your own way to your goals. Like pruning back the parts you want to thicken, (and develop into new canopy parts) and also by underpotting the tree. (and not wiring it into the pot!) You could slip it into a larger pot while the weather is still hot, they are pretty tough as long as the weather stays warm to create new roots. It might be fun to have the tree in this small pot for awhile, but you'll have to determine if it's worth loosing the development time.

 

[petegreg]

Good day Judy, I've seen somewhere sometime you talking about the best time for olive pruning/chopping, but cannot find it. May I ask here, what month would you do heavy pruning for reduction and back budding?

 

[Alain]

Yeah, it's osmocote, though I am pivoting to more organic fertilizer too.

Same here
I just bought some Alaskan fish extract this morning, my trees will have ceviche for their Sunday meal

 

[JudyB]

@petegreg - I do mine as soon as the weather heats up, and will remain hot for awhile. You can do almost any amount of root reduction on a healthy olive in hot weather. I also do my pruning chopping then as well.
The one thing you want to stay away from is pruning when the plant is not actively growing.

 

[petegreg]

Thank you, I appreciate it. They started pushing new growth only few weeks ago, no need to repot, so I might wait some more weeks to one month.

 

[Adair M]

Thank you, I appreciate it. They started pushing new growth only few weeks ago, no need to repot, so I might wait some more weeks to one month.

See my thread, "Some Before and Afters at the Intensive". I show my shohin olive before and after pruning, as well as before, during, and after repotting. I also show my massive olive before and after cut back and wiring.

 

[petegreg]

Thank you, watching that your nice thread. Just needed to link some things ... My olives have way to go. One intended for shohin with a pretty good basic shapes in need to get foliage closer to the trunk and the second in need of growth for a taller finished tree.

 

[Adair M]

I like your direction for this tree, you've thought it thru well. Now you need to see the roadblocks you're putting in your own way to your goals. Like pruning back the parts you want to thicken, (and develop into new canopy parts) and also by underpotting the tree. (and not wiring it into the pot!) You could slip it into a larger pot while the weather is still hot, they are pretty tough as long as the weather stays warm to create new roots. It might be fun to have the tree in this small pot for awhile, but you'll have to determine if it's worth loosing the development time.

Agree 100%!

 

[JudyB]

Thank you, watching that your nice thread. Just needed to link some things ... My olives have way to go. One intended for shohin with a pretty good basic shapes in need to get foliage closer to the trunk and the second in need of growth for a taller finished tree.

Not to muddy up Colins thread here, but here's a link to my olive thread...
http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/help-needed-with-eu-olive-styling.7016/

 

[petegreg]

Thanks I follow it. Very nice tree but one note, You should remove the word "help" from the thread name. No, I know you needed it at the beginning... It's all here about it once I need and then I can provide...

 

[JudyB]

Thanks I follow it. Very nice tree but one note, You should remove the word "help" from the thread name. No, I know you needed it at the beginning... It's all here about it once I need and then I can provide...

Wish I could, but you can't go back and change a thread title as far as I know. And look at all the great help I got!

 

[ColinFraser]

I like your direction for this tree, you've thought it thru well. Now you need to see the roadblocks you're putting in your own way to your goals. Like pruning back the parts you want to thicken, (and develop into new canopy parts) and also by underpotting the tree. (and not wiring it into the pot!) You could slip it into a larger pot while the weather is still hot, they are pretty tough as long as the weather stays warm to create new roots. It might be fun to have the tree in this small pot for awhile, but you'll have to determine if it's worth loosing the development time.

Thanks Judy. I was aware of the trade off that I made when cramming this into such a tiny pot, and for me at the moment, it's worth the slowdown in development to be able to enjoy it like this for a while (and also as an exploration of some more aggressive rootwork and tiny-pot watering). After this growing season I will reassess that. As for not wiring it in - completely absent minded! It has definitely served as a good reminder in subsequent repotting of other trees.

 

[Giga]

Olive is on my list to get - But I have yet to find anything worth getting

 

[ColinFraser]

Olive is on my list to get - But I have yet to find anything worth getting

When you do find some, buy them all: Why Not Take Olive Me . . .

 

[ColinFraser]

Has it been another year already?!
This one just got a spring cutback:

 

[maroun.c]

Looks amazing. Any pre cut back pictures?
I just repoted 3 olives yesterday and repoting 2 today, how do u secure the tree in the pot? Wire didn't make it very stable as I had no tough roots to anchor on?

 

[Adair M]

Has it been another year already?!
This one just got a spring cutback:

View attachment 136772

Colin, was the olive growing rapidly? I'm thinking it's too early to cut back. But then, I'm not in Southern California.