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Preparing an olive for restyling

October 20, 2023 by Jonas Dupuich

Three years ago I acquired a large olive that had come from the Blue Oak Nursery collection.

Olive, July 2020

Olive, July 2020

Although the tree was in need of styling, I wanted to gauge the health of the tree before proceeding.

After letting it grow for a year, I repotted it into a deeper container.

After pruning the roots

After pruning the roots

As you can see, the trunk flare is almost two feet across!

The deeper pot helped, but after two years, there was little new growth.

July 2022

July 2022

That fall the started growing like crazy. By November it was covered with 24″ shoots from the top to the bottom (I don’t have a photo).

This was the sign I was looking for. I trimmed the tree before winter and repotted it in early spring. By this summer it had put on another flush of growth and was ready for styling. Here’s the tree after pruning and wiring.

August, 2023

August, 2023, styling by Adam Toth.

The tree didn’t miss a beat and continued growing into fall.

Olive, early November, 2023

Olive, early November, 2023 – 37″ tall, container by Sara Rayner

I feel like the tree responded exactly the way I wanted it too, but I don’t know if it would have responded as well if I’d worked on it earlier. Either way, it reinforces for me the idea that there are benefits to waiting to see strong growth before doing a lot of work on a tree.

News & Updates

  • The Golden State Bonsai Federation Rendezvous is this weekend, October 20-22, at the Hotel Mission de Oro in Santa Nella, California.

    Same day and weekend registrations are still available. Registration includes seminars from a variety of teachers, demonstrations from Bjorn Bjorholm, and the opportunity to shop in the vendor garden. It’s the only event this year where you can learn from Bjorn, Peter Tea, Laurent Darrieux, Adam Toth, Julian Tsai, Jennifer Price, Mike Pistello, and David Nguy in the same weekend!

    I’ll be vending and presenting seminars on evaluating exhibits (sold out) and shopping for pre-bonsai material (11:00am today, Friday 10/20).

    Learn more at the GSBF Rendezvous website.
  • Submit your trees now to the Bonsai Central exhibit and convention to be held outside St. Louis, Missouri, on May 3-5, 2024.

    The event is an awesome undertaking sponsored by the Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis. Featured guests include Bjorn Bjorholm, Andrew Robson, Mauro Stemberger, Tyler Sherrod, Young Choi, and Marija Hajdic.

    I’ll be saying more about the event as the date approaches, but in the meantime, you can get an overview directly from the source on the Bonsai Wire Podcast.

    Learn more about the event at the Bonsai Central website.

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Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Olive

Previous Post: « Highlights from the 8th US National Bonsai Exhibition – part 2
Next Post: Preparing for exhibits 12 months out »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brendon Pohner says

    October 20, 2023 at 4:08 am

    Great post, Jonas! It so effectively reinforces the idea that health should always be the first priority in bonsai! So many of us (myself included) want to skip ahead to wiring and styling as is the more exciting part of the art.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 20, 2023 at 6:12 pm

      Thanks, Brendon, that’s true for me too!

  2. Dan Morton says

    October 20, 2023 at 6:13 am

    Hi Jonas
    Great article , it’s hard to judge the size of the tree , as you mentioned just under 2 feet at base , it must be pretty tall , guessing somewhere around 3 foot ? I like the pot selected , but where do you find pots of that diameter (round) ? Can you put me in touch with someone who has that size pot ? I’m looking for one 20 / 22 in in diameter and 10 in deep for a yew .The Olive’s seems to fast growers (at least the clump I got from you a couple years back) seem I can watch it grow . Thanks the the article

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 20, 2023 at 6:10 pm

      Thanks, Dan! And good question about finding large pots. I don’t know of good sources and typically import directly from Japan.

  3. Steven Tippin says

    October 20, 2023 at 6:51 am

    I really love seeing progressions like this (both successes and failures). Keep sending them out. How old is that olive tree????

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 20, 2023 at 6:08 pm

      Thanks! And good question about the age. I know it’s old (50+ years) but I don’t know how old).

  4. Daniel PIOCH says

    October 21, 2023 at 1:40 pm

    Thanks Jonas for this nice story.
    I am fond of olive trees, olives and olive oil as well. I am taking care of a small familly orchard, in soth og France where I live as you know.
    I have young olive bonsais, and I’m trying to shape some looking older from small trees born in the orchard.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 21, 2023 at 1:59 pm

      I’m looking forward to seeing your olives develop!

  5. Pedro says

    October 21, 2023 at 5:45 pm

    Hi Jonas,

    What soil mix do you use for Olives? I used to live in Spain where weather is perfect. Moved to Georgia and my olives are not doing well.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 22, 2023 at 5:32 pm

      Hi Pedro! The best soil mix will be whatever works in your climate. I’ve used 30-50% akadama mixes (with lava and/or pumice for the rest) and they’ve all worked well. I’d check with people who have healthy olives in your area (the Atlanta club is a great resource) and see what they’ve learned about them.

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