Russian Olive

[RonVachyier]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum

Someone I know overheard me looking around for an Olive tree to grow as a learning experience, and my apparent lack of being able to find one. Showed up today at work yesterday with this, as a "gift";

Had it in his garden in a back corner and was going to kill it apparently. Not for any of its reputed invasiveness (it is not classified as such here), just for another shrub.

This shrub is about 4 feet tall. Its summer here, 90F outside. I won't be keeping all the branches, but not sure when is the proper time of year to prune them. I will probably plant it in the ground in our garden to thicken the main trunk which is about 1.5 inches thick right now, and look to pot it in the spring?

Looking for suggestions and guidance as to when is the proper time to start working on this tree.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JudyB]

Ron,
these trees are basically large weeds - you can get away with a lot on these. I would say that depending on what your goal is with this tree, you'll need to leave it in the ground at least for a year or more to thicken the trunk. They grow pretty fast in the ground, so you could plant it this year and leave it next. Then it may be the size you want the following year. But it won't gain much by next spring. You could start pruning anytime, but that will slow down trunk growth. How tall of a tree do you want from this? If you're looking at a 20" tree or so, then you'll want somewhere in the neighborhood of a 2" trunk.

So first you have to decide what you want from this, to determine how to get there.

Looks like you could do a chop above that lower thick left branch and create taper and movement from there....

These trees are not fussy about repotting, or root trimming, or pruning. They do like to be moist in pot culture.

 

[rockm]

Russian olive is NOT an olive. It is an Elaeagnus species, specifically elaeangus angustifolia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_olive

It will not respond as an olive and growing it is not the same as the olea species.

 

[JudyB]

Russian olive is NOT an olive. It is an Elaeagnus species, specifically elaeangus angustifolia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_olive

It will not respond as an olive and growing it is not the same as the olea species.

FYI, I actually have some russian olives, (I know they're not an olive...) and was giving advice based on how I work with mine...
mine are posted here somewhere....

 

[RonVachyier]

Russian olive is NOT an olive. It is an Elaeagnus species, specifically elaeangus angustifolia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_olive

It will not respond as an olive and growing it is not the same as the olea species.

yes I was aware they are not a real olive tree, I didn't common name them the russian olive myself somebody else did, and its easier to remember I wish I could have a real olive tree, however I have to settle for this one that can survive -30F winters (apparently )

In any case, I will try and get it to fatten up a bit before I try anything too drastic. I am just curious when is the wrong time to do anything, more or less

 

[rockm]

No offense meant. The poster said he was looking for an olive tree. Just pointed out this isn't one.

 

[bonsai barry]

If you do decide to plant it in the ground, remember the old bonsai trick of putting a tile or a plate or someething below the roots to encourage lateral root growth rather than downward growith.

 

[bougie nights]

This could be a close relative, the autumn olive (E. umbellata). I remember seeing an article about them in an old issue of Bonsai Today.
The specimens looked rather nice.

 

[RonVachyier]

If you do decide to plant it in the ground, remember the old bonsai trick of putting a tile or a plate or someething below the roots to encourage lateral root growth rather than downward growith.

I thought of this, but the roots are likely quite large (going to get to the planting tonight)

I am hoping that surface root visible will develop into something nice. I was going to plant it above a rock ?

 

[bonsai barry]

You'll want to trim the roots before planting. I don't have experience with this plant, but if it is sa hardy as most people are indicating, then most likely you can cut the roots wy back. Hopefully someone with more expereince than I have will chime in.

 

[JudyB]

I would take a pruning saw (or reciprocating saw) and cut 2/3rd's or at least 1/2 of the bottom rootball straight across. I would also prune off unwanted/unneeded branches at this time as well, you'll need to do some trimming at least if you cut roots off to balance what you cut off the roots. Get rid of branches you won't need in the design. I would leave one main trunkline, or one main, and that little side trunk if you want a twin. You can plant this in the ground, sitting on top of a tile, or something flat and hard, so the roots when they grow out, will go off to the sides instead of straight down. You should put the visible surface roots just a bit below the soil level, so they'll have a chance to get bigger. You can use a strong water spray to get some of that nursery soil off the roots you are keeping, (I would get as much of that off as possible) and use a bonsai soil to fill those spaces you create, and to backfill around the tree in the new spot.

If you are talking about Root over Rock, this is a whole different process, and usually begins with a small cutting or whip to tie onto a rock while the roots are small and pliable. The roots are wrapped to the rock , then the whole rock is buried. I don't think that this tree is a candidate for this, but maybe that's not what you were saying with planting on a rock...

(BTW rockm, I hope you didn't think me offended, not at all, it's good to make sure people have accurate info, common names can be confusing.)

 

[RonVachyier]

If you are talking about Root over Rock, this is a whole different process, and usually begins with a small cutting or whip to tie onto a rock while the roots are small and pliable. The roots are wrapped to the rock , then the whole rock is buried. I don't think that this tree is a candidate for this, but maybe that's not what you were saying with planting on a rock...

no I meant over a flat rock. I had read about a method using a wood or ceramic tile, however I can't thread this through anything like that so I was going to use a flat stone under the rootball as close to the surface as possible. This trunk has alot of shoots, I am going to take a moment to decide what shape this will eventually take

 

[bougie nights]

Hey Ron,
Since this was already dug up by someone, it may be best to just let the tree recover for the season and then next spring, prune the roots back and arrange over the flat rock/tile. While it is true that these are tough as nails, too much root disturbance this late in the season may be too much for the tree.

 

[JudyB]

I didn't even catch that bougie... If this was dug up, then Bougie is right, it may be better to play it safe, and not do any more work on it. For some reason I thought it came from your friend, but was just a nursery plant in a pot, not a tree that has been dug up once already. But if it was really recent, like just a couple days ago that it was dug, I don't see that it'd bother it too much to just plant it again...

 

[milehigh_7]

Hey Ron, update your profile to reflect where you live. It is real hard to give proper advice till folks know.

 

[doc spring _work]

Soo I'm not sure if anyone is still following this thread but I just collected a wild Russian olive... I thought it was a large root I was following with my shovel so when I went to pull it up and heard a loud snap I looked down and realized it was a natural raft!!!

Pulled it out and cut it back and took it home, unfortunately it didn't have a ton of roots left so I'm sort of just praying it'll be able to recover...

How much root do these fellas need?

I know they are super prolific as cuttings so there's a good chance it'll ground layer in the large pot right?

(It had some epic movement but focusing on raw survival I did cut it back.. can't add photos rn might add some in the morning.)

 

[doc spring _work]

Photos, any thoughts? Blue is buried wood and the red is the roots that survived. Rough estimate... The entire thing is massive... (See through red is fibrous roots. There's a big section of tiles to prevent growing downwards further... But give I found this as a natural raft I expect plenty of rooting along the buried section.

It was growing in a marshy area, so I figured although it'll get a mineral soil later id recreate what I saw when I did the removal....

Not sure this big boy will sprout.