Has anyone tried thread grafting a wild olive (oleaster)

[Soup Dragon]

I have a trunk that is straight, uninteresting, and devoid of branches other than at the top, where branches grow perfectly well. It really needs a couple of low branches, and I feel that thread grafting would be the easiest fix ... but ... I usually see thread grafting referred to as a good technique for maples, elms, ficus, and not a whole lot more. Has anyone tried this technique with olives, and was it successful? Should I give it a try, or would I only be peppering my uninteresting trunk with holes?

 

[leatherback]

I do not know. But consideing they do not thicken all that fast, I would not expect it to work well.

However.. How long have you had the olive? I find I am constantly rubbing off buds on mine.. Have you let it grow for a season?

 

[Shibui]

Agree that olives are usually really prolific with new buds. Maybe some pruning at the top might stimulate some new shoots lower? Italy should be a great place for olive so climate is not the problem. Plenty of feed and water might help.
Thread grafting should be possible though I have not done it on olive. You will need to defoliate the shoots to fit through a hole though. A few holes in the trunk will not hurt. The oldest natural olives all have dead and rotted trunks. Some dead wood may be a way to make your trunk more interesting if you can't get branching. Some pics might help us understand the issues.

 

[Soup Dragon]

I do not know. But consideing they do not thicken all that fast, I would not expect it to work well.

However.. How long have you had the olive? I find I am constantly rubbing off buds on mine.. Have you let it grow for a season?

Good point. They do not thicken fast at all. I hadn't considered that.

I have had it for a couple of years. It seems to bud either really low, or really high on the trunk, and never where I want. I guess I need to be more patient.

Thank you!

 

[Soup Dragon]

Agree that olives are usually really prolific with new buds. Maybe some pruning at the top might stimulate some new shoots lower? Italy should be a great place for olive so climate is not the problem. Plenty of feed and water might help.
Thread grafting should be possible though I have not done it on olive. You will need to defoliate the shoots to fit through a hole though. A few holes in the trunk will not hurt. The oldest natural olives all have dead and rotted trunks. Some dead wood may be a way to make your trunk more interesting if you can't get branching. Some pics might help us understand the issues.

I have pruned back to almost nothing a couple of times, but it doesn't create shoots where they'd be helpful. It is an ugly 'tree' and always will be, but I am never able to discard anything. I suppose it will become an experiment tree .

Thanks!

 

[Soup Dragon]

I have pruned back to almost nothing a couple of times, but it doesn't create shoots where they'd be helpful.

Typical! I did the thread graft and was waiting patiently to see if it will be successful. Then, out of the blue, this happened:



A new branch, exactly where I wanted one. I guess I could abandon the thread graft now, but I'll keep it there just to see if it works.

 

[leatherback]

Typical! I did the thread graft and was waiting patiently to see if it will be successful. Then, out of the blue, this happened:

View attachment 320485

A new branch, exactly where I wanted one. I guess I could abandon the thread graft now, but I'll keep it there just to see if it works.

interrupted the sapflow from the growing tips triggered a dormant bud.

 

[Soup Dragon]

interrupted the sapflow from the growing tips triggered a dormant bud.

Very interesting. So it was the action of me drilling the hole that caused the bud to awaken - it wouldn't have happened otherwise. It's fascinating to learn more about the behavior of trees from the experts on this forum. Thank you!

 

[Shibui]

Cutting a nick in the bark just above where shoots are required is an old technique for stimulating shoots. Cut through the cambium interrupts the flow of auxin down the trunk and allows dormant buds to sprout but the cut can heal up quite quickly and disappear completely after. I suspect that drilling the hole has done the same thing.
Keep us updated on the graft and whether yo choose to keep the new shoot or your graft in the end.

 

[RJG2]

interrupted the sapflow from the growing tips triggered a dormant bud.

Maybe I should just Google this, but do you have to go all the way through the sap wood to interrupt it enough to awaken buds?

I've tried cutting horizontal slits with a razor to awaken buds, but it hasn't worked yet (tried on a few species). Maybe I'm not going deep enough?

 

[leatherback]

Na, you just need to cut the bark; it is the sapflow from the leaves you need to interrupt.

 

[Soup Dragon]

Keep us updated on the graft and whether yo choose to keep the new shoot or your graft in the end.

I will. I'll let both grow for a while as an educational experience, and will post here with the findings!