My big olive

leatherback

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I thought I had a thread, but maybe not..

About 2 years ago I was able to get an affordable olive..chunky monster with a large chop mark:

20180104_OE06-1_2019-06-10.jpg

So in 2018 I did some wiring and initial carving

20180509_OE06_1_2019-06-10.jpg

Not happy, later i again took to the deadwood and brought in a chainsaw for the big section:

20190601_4_2019-06-10.jpg

And after "delicate' work with the makite, was left with this:

20190601_5_2019-06-10.jpg

This summer I worked the deadwood on the back but i do not have pictures nearby. Eventually i hope to shave another 10 pounds off this tree so I can manage it in a real pot..

Any thoughts?
 
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ConorDash

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Just hope you can get some proper big growth on it, some big primaries to make it seem more of a believable tree from nature.
Nice crazy winding branches.
 

leatherback

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Just hope you can get some proper big growth on it, some big primaries to make it seem more of a believable tree from nature.
Agreed. But hey, there is always a positive to the negatives.. climate changes heads in the direction of hotter summers for where I live, so might just get good growth. I now get about a half inch girth in 2 years which is slow going!
 

ConorDash

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Agreed. But hey, there is always a positive to the negatives.. climate changes heads in the direction of hotter summers for where I live, so might just get good growth. I now get about a half inch girth in 2 years which is slow going!

Oh I didn’t mean it as negative at all. It’s a very cool. Whether you turn it in to Bonsai or not. Thick primaries or not. It’s very cool. They really do like heat though. Mine did well this year, it’s pretty much stopped now though.. short growing period, but when it goes, it goes.. got a few wire scars this season! But they will grow out. Yours is pretty gnarly, huge base and great taper. I’d think more unique style with it, for Bonsai. Not the usual.

It certainly needs to be left to grow freely though, sorry! Painful part of the process
 

FedericoMelis

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Oh I didn’t mean it as negative at all. It’s a very cool. Whether you turn it in to Bonsai or not. Thick primaries or not. It’s very cool. They really do like heat though. Mine did well this year, it’s pretty much stopped now though.. short growing period, but when it goes, it goes.. got a few wire scars this season! But they will grow out. Yours is pretty gnarly, huge base and great taper. I’d think more unique style with it, for Bonsai. Not the usual.

It certainly needs to be left to grow freely though, sorry! Painful part of the process
Definitely love heat and huge amounts of sun. 40+ degrees this summer and not a single burnt leaf, watering once a day only, they dont give a f***
The grow like crazy almost the whole year March to November, 100% survival rate even when collecting at the "wrong" time, they are unstoppable!
 

ConorDash

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Definitely love heat and huge amounts of sun. 40+ degrees this summer and not a single burnt leaf, watering once a day only, they dont give a f***
The grow like crazy almost the whole year March to November, 100% survival rate even when collecting at the "wrong" time, they are unstoppable!

Well I guess that’s why there are so many huge very old stumps of them!

I live in England so they don’t get as great a growing season here.
 

leatherback

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I have been trying to think about this tree. It is now too heavy to lift alone. I ideally would make it lighter but i am not sure whether that would make the tree less interesting.

My current thought is to remove 1/3 of the trunk and hollow the rest out to a shell of maybe 2 inches thick. I would remove the section on the right of the current carving, and around.

Anyone any thoughts on this?
 

Adair M

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To make it lighter, work from underneath. I bet there a whole lot of unnecessary wood buried in the pot.

You do want radial roots at to soil line. But anything below that is not necessary. Olive wood is very heavy, and by removing to bottom base will help a lot! You might consider making a wooden training container to hold it for a little while. Get the base flat.

Something like this;

7CD6F142-017F-40E1-90A7-3BDA3DED3052.jpeg
 

leatherback

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I am afraid I took a chainsaw to it already when I got it the base is as flat as it will be...

But I could flip it over and work the inside from the bottom. Hm. Interesting thought.

Would you consider doing this in winter? Or like most olive work.. in midsummer?
 

Adair M

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I am afraid I took a chainsaw to it already when I got it the base is as flat as it will be...

But I could flip it over and work the inside from the bottom. Hm. Interesting thought.

Would you consider doing this in winter? Or like most olive work.. in midsummer?
Do root work when they’re actively growing.
 

leatherback

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To make it lighter, work from underneath.
This weekend I reduced the weight by maybe 20 pounds / 10 kgs. Several buckets of carvings and a big new olive wedgecutting..

Chainsaw massacre! :eek:
1592165362942.png

First cut by chainsaw

1592165143296.png

A first rough carving. Will need a few more hours of work but I refer to first let the tree settling in the new situation..
1592165242675.png

And the new triangletree! Also a few carving sessions in the future
1592165433670.png
 

Michael P

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Very inspiring! Yesterday I did serious root reduction and pruning on mine. Not nearly as nice or large as yours, but I was thinking of a large fissure in the top third of the trunk.
 

Nivel

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Very nice work I like it so much. Carving looks so natural. I can picture it in the field surrounded by rows of olives here in Spain.

And what you think if I cut bottom right branch

olivead.png
 

leatherback

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And what you think if I cut bottom right branch
I have thought about doing that. I am not sure either way. Somehow this is a tree that is not convincing me yet. I still need to get it back to full vigour. But scrolling through the thread last night, looking at dates and pictures.. Seems like I have not left it even one summer to just do its thing and grow. Maybe I should do that first and see how it responds.

Taking the branch off is easy. Growing it back will be a nightmare.

One reason to leave it on, would be to keep a little shade on the lower trunk so that maybe it will stop sprouting (I must have removed 50 suckers from the base yesterday)
 

Nivel

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One reason to leave it on, would be to keep a little shade on the lower trunk so that maybe it will stop sprouting (I must have removed 50 suckers from the base yesterday)
I don 't think so 😄, it is in his shrub nature. At least with olives on the ground. Owning an olive grove of 100 I know it, I need to prune that suckers every year to not waste energy and use it in the new olives instead.
 
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