Olive

I started working on an olive bonsai last summer. After taking the tree home and letting new shoots grow out, I wired the ones I needed and removed the rest. One year later, I’m doing the same thing. Olive bonsai – one year in training The idea is to establish the main branches. Once they […]

After repotting a new olive this past spring, some long shoots are starting to develop. Olive As the tree is growing strongly, I wired some of the primary future branches and removed extraneous shoots. After cutback and wiring These branches will have to thicken considerably to ease the transition from the large trunk so I’ll let […]

I’ve been working with the stump of a small olive this year. After removing most of the trunk in winter, I now have plenty of shoots from which to select new branches. While there’s not too much to this work, it’s important in that it sets the structure for the tree’s future. Olive – front […]

Last fall a friend dug up an olive tree growing as a weed in his backyard. He figured someone might be interested in it. I figured it would make a fun bonsai project. Black olive The tree was tall and rangy but there was some taper at the base of the trunk. Shoots emerging from […]