bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - New Olive bonsai

Hi Colin,

I thought it would be a good idea to clarify my comments concerning the drastic pruning of the olive that I advocated earlier.

I'm in California in a climate pretty close to Mediterranean, home of the olive. This "tree" is basically a shrub. We get shoots coming up out of the field wherever an olive has been collected. Midori has a club member here named Doug Philips who collects Olive with 6" trunks and treats them as cuttings. See the picture below and look at the shoots.

[img:48db5b8d43]http://www.lost-oasis.com/bonsai/bonsai/Gallery/roy_dougolive.jpg[/img:48db5b8d43]

They are old 30-50 year old trees and they're absolutely covered with shoots from tip to rootbase a few weeks later. I don't think you will have any problem if you wait until the danger of frost has passed. I think even on fairly mature olives the trunk is greenish and capable of photosynthesis. The tree Doug's holding has been topped at the time it was collected, but see all the shoots and even the new roots are throwing up suckers. There aren't a lot of trees that have that can match the regenerative capacity of shrubs like azalea and all the hedging plants: holly, olive, privet. Redwood has it, as does Bald Cypress, and elm, oak and wilow to some extent. If I think of more I'll add them here.

I wouldn't recommend drastic cutting like this with most other trees, but we are talking about olives. If you are concerned about it some susceptibility in your climate, you can always cut at a higher point, where there are leaves, to stimulate adventitious buds on the trunk. Then you can cut back again later. It will only set you back one season at most.

Here are some comments on olive pruning that I pulled from the web.

"Pruning: Proper pruning is important for the olive... The trees can withstand radical pruning, so it is relatively easy to keep them at a desired height."

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/olive.html

Pruning and Shaping

"Olive has a bad reputation with regard to pruning. When a substantial stem is cut back the new growth is coarse and vigorous at the cut...[Olive] grows slowly, but strong; and can achieve great age, as it can resprout from its trunk, even if you cut or burn it. "

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/olive.htm

called " the immortal tree " because the wild olive trees restart infinitely their tree stump...

Burned, mowed, or cut plants will resprout vigorously. ...
burn the
cut stems because the plants resprout from fragments)...

I even found a few web page dedicated to trying to kill russian olive, which is considered a weed in some areas.

CONTROL RECOMMENDATIONS

Cutting the plant off at the main stem and applying herbicide to the stump has been effective in killing root systems and preventing resprouting. Roundup herbicide (a formulation of glyphosate) has been effective in controlling autumn olive when used as a 10-20% solution and applied directly to the cut stump

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/edu/VMG/autolive.html

Best regards,

Matt Chroust

6-Nov-2001	#7
TreeBay Tips:5¢ Advice:Free *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Silicon Valley Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 9,745	Re: New Olive bonsai - shaping the apex Hi Colin, I thought it would be a good idea to clarify my comments concerning the drastic pruning of the olive that I advocated earlier. I'm in California in a climate pretty close to Mediterranean, home of the olive. This "tree" is basically a shrub. We get shoots coming up out of the field wherever an olive has been collected. Midori has a club member here named Doug Philips who collects Olive with 6" trunks and treats them as cuttings. See the picture below and look at the shoots. [img:48db5b8d43]http://www.lost-oasis.com/bonsai/bonsai/Gallery/roy_dougolive.jpg[/img:48db5b8d43] They are old 30-50 year old trees and they're absolutely covered with shoots from tip to rootbase a few weeks later. I don't think you will have any problem if you wait until the danger of frost has passed. I think even on fairly mature olives the trunk is greenish and capable of photosynthesis. The tree Doug's holding has been topped at the time it was collected, but see all the shoots and even the new roots are throwing up suckers. There aren't a lot of trees that have that can match the regenerative capacity of shrubs like azalea and all the hedging plants: holly, olive, privet. Redwood has it, as does Bald Cypress, and elm, oak and wilow to some extent. If I think of more I'll add them here. I wouldn't recommend drastic cutting like this with most other trees, but we are talking about olives. If you are concerned about it some susceptibility in your climate, you can always cut at a higher point, where there are leaves, to stimulate adventitious buds on the trunk. Then you can cut back again later. It will only set you back one season at most. Here are some comments on olive pruning that I pulled from the web. "Pruning: Proper pruning is important for the olive... The trees can withstand radical pruning, so it is relatively easy to keep them at a desired height." http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/olive.html Pruning and Shaping "Olive has a bad reputation with regard to pruning. When a substantial stem is cut back the new growth is coarse and vigorous at the cut...[Olive] grows slowly, but strong; and can achieve great age, as it can resprout from its trunk, even if you cut or burn it. " http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/olive.htm called " the immortal tree " because the wild olive trees restart infinitely their tree stump... Burned, mowed, or cut plants will resprout vigorously. ... burn the cut stems because the plants resprout from fragments)... I even found a few web page dedicated to trying to kill russian olive, which is considered a weed in some areas. CONTROL RECOMMENDATIONS Cutting the plant off at the main stem and applying herbicide to the stump has been effective in killing root systems and preventing resprouting. Roundup herbicide (a formulation of glyphosate) has been effective in controlling autumn olive when used as a 10-20% solution and applied directly to the cut stump http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/edu/VMG/autolive.html Best regards, Matt Chroust __________________ Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today! bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!