Help styling my Olive bonsais.

[ConorDash]

Dunno the size of your bonsai Colin but it clearly is way larger than one I posted.
but yes it seems to have those larger leaves (my bonsai collection seem to be mixed some with larger and some with smaller leaves)
so here are some pics with a scale

Against one of my olives with smaller leaves.
View attachment 112914
Pot and trunk size
View attachment 112915

Leaf size of my small leaved olive
View attachment 112916

And the large leaf of this new olive

View attachment 112917

Looking at the trunk dimensions is this one I can skip further trunk thickening and move to styling ?
Taper looks fine on it but not sure about that thinner branch on the left

Careful of that soil they are in again, same as previously mentioned. Wanna make sure it's not compacted, water doesn't run off the top of it and can penetrate it. Just a little side note.

 

[maroun.c]

Yes, either of those would work well! I like the twin trunk one better.

You would want to chop both trunks, make the smaller one shorter than the fatter one. It should sprout new buds all over. Mine does.

Here's my smaller olive.

Before:

View attachment 112902

After:

View attachment 112903

It's still a "project" I'm working on. But you get the idea. It's also a twin trunk.

Yaayyyy finally couple of pieces that will work. I already picked the smaller one, the one with dual trunks was spoken for but the buyer backed off this evening so will pickup tomorrow or Monday
It's in a 7-8 inch pot so not bad thickness of trunk but barkband shape is nowhere near ur tree.
To me that tree you posted is amazing and a long time finished project
Thanks

 

[maroun.c]

Might not like it but here is my take on what needs doing.
Work a good gauge of wire Under that red line and twist it
as tightly as you can so that it will bind as the tree grows.
Take a fine blade and make little "flap cuts" along the roots
you have like at the green dots. Dust the flap cuts with a little
rooting hormone. Pot the whole thing up in a LARGE nursery
pot and grow it on for a few years. You can work your branches,
continue pulling them down and outward. But while it is growing
on in the nursery pot the wire will girdle the trunk and force
new roots just above it while those little flaps you cut will also
form roots along your roots giving you something to cut back to
in a few years.

As I found some better trunks to learn styling with I was going to ground root but without the wire thing. Any advantages to using the wire?
Thanks

 

[ConorDash]

Yaayyyy finally couple of pieces that will work. I already picked the smaller one, the one with dual trunks was spoken for but the buyer backed off this evening so will pickup tomorrow or Monday
It's in a 7-8 inch pot so not bad thickness of trunk but barkband shape is nowhere near ur tree.
To me that tree you posted is amazing and a long time finished project
Thanks

The term "finished" can be discussed at great length on this forum lol.

http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/finished-bonsai-nothing-to-do.24178/page-2#post-373748

 

[maroun.c]

They both look like good starting stock to me, I wish I had a place nearby where I can randomly stumble upon these things. They look good . I could see them becoming good looking bonsai in 3-4 years.

I spent the day looking for bonsai soil and found this place by chance. They have a nice collection of bonsais. Git my eye in a very nice elm much nicer than the one I got. Only thing that's making me wait is I'm visiting a bonsai specialist with an amazing stock of finished bonsaïs coming week so decided to wait.
After all I'm in a meditarenean country filled with olives we raise for olives and oil so should also find much better stuff in the wild.

 

[maroun.c]

Careful of that soil they are in again, same as previously mentioned. Wanna make sure it's not compacted, water doesn't run off the top of it and can penetrate it. Just a little side note.

They're all moving to better soil next week. Will not wait till June as a couple of my olives are struggling as well in same soil and my area has high humidity and low wind in summer so soul takes days to go dry after minimal watering.

 

[armetisius]

As I found some better trunks to learn styling with I was going to ground root but without the wire thing. Any advantages to using the wire?
Thanks

As stated in the post, roots form above that point giving you a nice
flat root system as the old one withers away. Since the root system is
never disconnected (until it has been already been replaced) - much
safer way to work it towards a bonsai pot.

 

[Adair M]

I spent the day looking for bonsai soil and found this place by chance. They have a nice collection of bonsais. Git my eye in a very nice elm much nicer than the one I got. Only thing that's making me wait is I'm visiting a bonsai specialist with an amazing stock of finished bonsaïs coming week so decided to wait.
After all I'm in a meditarenean country filled with olives we raise for olives and oil so should also find much better stuff in the wild.

I would think it should be pretty easy to find olives where you are.

It's much easier to start with a tree that's too big, and cut it back than to try to grow something really young into something big.

 

[maroun.c]

As stated in the post, roots form above that point giving you a nice
flat root system as the old one withers away. Since the root system is
never disconnected (until it has been already been replaced) - much
safer way to work it towards a bonsai pot.

Makes sense, will try that.
Thanks.

 

[maroun.c]

I would think it should be pretty easy to find olives where you are.

It's much easier to start with a tree that's too big, and cut it back than to try to grow something really young into something big.

I will definitely find one and also learn to cut back a tree into bonsai. Also considering this for pin as I'm surrounded by pine forests where I live. Can pine be cut and regrown as easy as olives are?
Thanks

 

[armetisius]

I will definitely find one and also learn to cut back a tree into bonsai. Also considering this for pin as I'm surrounded by pine forests where I live. Can pine be cut and regrown as easy as olives are?
Thanks

No

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Understood.
Guess I'll repot all my trees to large pots and better soil and see how they develop. Good timing as I was about to discard these
View attachment 112872 will also look for couple good or better trunks so I can play with both growing and styling at the same time.
Hope to find some good stuff as its usually very limited here.
Thanks for all the help

Here in Oman is the same. Very limited indeed! :0)

 

[Aiki_Joker]

I spent the day looking for bonsai soil and found this place by chance. They have a nice collection of bonsais. Git my eye in a very nice elm much nicer than the one I got. Only thing that's making me wait is I'm visiting a bonsai specialist with an amazing stock of finished bonsaïs coming week so decided to wait.
After all I'm in a meditarenean country filled with olives we raise for olives and oil so should also find much better stuff in the wild.

Man there is nothing like this in Oman man

 

[maroun.c]

Here in Oman is the same. Very limited indeed! :0)

Looks like its the same in the middle east as I've checked in few countries around couldn't find good starter material and hardly any bonsai soil. Was lucky to find pumice and no one heard about akadama or lava... somehow they also all plant in peat and get away with watering somehow.... what trees do you have ?

 

[maroun.c]

Man there is nothing like this in Oman man

Looks like I found couple of stores with potentially acceptable quality at reasonable price. Problem is very few people have Bonsai for a hobby here and what u find in stores is basically what they consider "finished Bonsai" although it is far from it. Unfortunately prices are a bit steep for even trees youngster to still work on for years.

 

[petegreg]

No

Pines cannot be chopped without leaving anything green. But they can be reduced in height slowly. Down to the lowest branch... When collecting pines I always keep it in my mind. Sure it depends on pine spiecies, some can backbud on the trunk, some cannot.

 

[maroun.c]

Pines cannot be chopped without leaving anything green. But they can be reduced in height slowly. Down to the lowest branch... When collecting pines I always keep it in my mind. Sure it depends on pine spiecies, some can backbud on the trunk, some cannot.

Believe that is correct for the pine variety we have here as I saw a few cut trunks in the forest like looked as old cuts and no signs of Re-budding. Any idea if the trunks take to air layering or ground layering to shorten trunks ?

 

[Aiki_Joker]

Looks like its the same in the middle east as I've checked in few countries around couldn't find good starter material and hardly any bonsai soil. Was lucky to find pumice and no one heard about akadama or lava... somehow they also all plant in peat and get away with watering somehow.... what trees do you have ?

There is a bonsai place in dubai but ihave yet to go. Used to be a society here but now shut down.

 

[Aiki_Joker]

There is a bonsai place in dubai but ihave yet to go. Used to be a society here but now shut down.

Lava is available here in pea shaped granules for potting plants with, it can be crushed with pliers to create the sharp texture required for optimum root development but it is a messy job and creates a lot of fine particles :0 (

 

[petegreg]

Believe that is correct for the pine variety we have here as I saw a few cut trunks in the forest like looked as old cuts and no signs of Re-budding. Any idea if the trunks take to air layering or ground layering to shorten trunks ?

Some pine species probably can be air layered, but it is difficult. What I meant can be red from pictures...

The pics come from Google. If you find a taller pine always look for lower branches if you aim to have a smaller tree from it.