Reviving an Ancient Wild Olive Bonsai: The Initial Rescue Phase

In this video Terry Erasmus starts the restoration process of an ancient, collected wild olive bonsai which has lost many branches as a result of poor quality soil by removing all the old soil and repotting it in an open, fast draining mix of akadama, lava and pumice.
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[@baldyeti]

Always both entertaining and educational. I really dig your stuff, Terry. I’m so envious of your wild olives. My domestic olives in USA don’t compare.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you! Its funny as we are so envious of your junipers on the other hand. Thank you very much for your kind words and I am very glad you enjoy the videos.

[@hassimgora]

Stunning tree. Can't wait to see the results after trimming. Thanks Terry for sharing.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you Hassim! Thankful for a comment from another South African bonsai enthusiast

[@flowersofthefield340]

Beautifull Tree 💜🫒🕊

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

What a wonderful tree, a good step towards the future!!!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Ah, thanks so much Nigel! I wish it were mine but at least I get the privilege of being part of its future. Trust you are keeping well; you have a large following here in South Africa by the way!

[@TheBonsaiZone]

Yes, thanks Terry, we have the last fall show in Toronto this weekend, then life is back to normal for a while!!@@TerryErasmusbonsai

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@TheBonsaiZone that’s great. Enjoy!

[@jeffhurst4744]

Beautiful Olive tree. Lots of good tips and examples. Like the top dressing link, it’s next on my screen.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@justingroenewald768]

Awesome video as usual, thank you. It would be great to have a follow up on this tree to see how quickly it responds to the new growing media.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for the idea and compliment Justin! The customer has left the tree with me till end of the year so hopefully I’ll be able to post something prior to then. But I’m sure I will work on it in the future again.

[@MrNixtt]

Honestly this is the best bonsai channel. So many details and explanations. I do have a very old olive tree from Greece thank you for the tips.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you 🙏🏻

[@japanesemaplesbonsai7133]

Great video Terry. Love your work. Would love to see any work you do on Japanese maples. You made a small JM Forest some time ago, just wondering what that looks like now. Thanks again. All the best from the uk 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Great suggestion and thank you so much for your kind words! I will definately do that. There was an update on that forest planting in fact, you can see it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGPKZaWBetp1fLM

[@PSPMHaestros]

What a beautiful olive, I'm sure it'll like that new soil!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

I think so too! I’m excited about it’s future and for the opportunity to be part of it.

[@lluisasastre]

I’d like ti see the pruning! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

I definitely intend pruning it back soon to get it to bud closer so I can reduce the size of the canopy. But it is only advisable to do that if and when the tree is in a healthy state. The tree is still recovering, but recovering well so I suspect by spring I should be able to cut it or just after.

[@nancyfahey7518]

Love your work.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you Nancy, you are very kind! 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@stephaniesmith6780]

I love your videos as your videos, and info on BonsaiTreewas once my only way of learning anything regarding bonsai's because we did not have a club nearby and I could not find anyone doing bonsai near me. Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge. Great video as always. ❤

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you Stephanie! It sounds like you have found some likeminded people now which is great. Be sure to spread the word about my channel though :) Thanks so much!

[@nwilliams1540]

What a wonderful tree. Question- do you leave the moss on even after the roots have recovered from the repotting?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you! Yes, the moss encourages live moss to develop on the surface. This surface dressing also encourages a lot of surface roots which are very useful as they increase the total usable volume of the container.

[@raymonddeguara5678]

Thankyou and very informative as always, always very thourogh

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you so much Raymond! 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@robertobreglia9224]

Fantastic tree and great job!👏👏👏👏

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you very much Roberto!

[@jesusmuralles4100]

saludos desde Guatemala, siempre estoy listo para ver tus videos

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

That is very kind of you to say Jesus. 🙇🏼‍♂️. Greetings from sunny Cape Town, South Africa

[@OjaiBonsai]

Crazy awesome tree. Cheers from Ojai California

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you Jason! Cheers from sunny, windy Cape Town, South Africa!

[@claudiocrevoli7710]

Beautiful video. Why don't you use even minimal organic material to encourage bacterial flora? How do you solve this problem? Thank you

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Claudio. I don’t need organic material to encourage this, it develops in the porous media anyways such as the lava. The Japanese who are the masters of bonsai have not been using any organic material in their media for a very long time. I don’t think there’s any question that they produce amazing bonsai.

[@cb6778]

Thanks

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you so much Christopher. Really appreciate the support. 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@brucekelsch5080]

Awesome awesome awesome.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@edumoretti6723]

Olá Terry. Árvore incrível e esse video foi uma aula. Parabéns e saudações do Brasil. 😊

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@suryjoni]

U should give more information on each tree. How to repot is very clear already .

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Noted

[@suryjoni]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai thank you:) sorry if it came out not polite i really love ur videos.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for clarifying. I appreciate it. It’s very difficult to know whats best to present, my audience is a really broad and it’s risky to assume what they do and do not know. I appreciate constructive feedback very much though as it helps.

[@gregoryh4601]

When will you start the Designing of the Branches ? Thanks

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Hi Gregory when the tree has recovered.

[@giampaolomannelli9938]

Stupenda pianta, peccato davvero che i sottotitoli non ci siano in ITALIANO, peccato davvero.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

I am sorry that there are no Italian subtitles. Are you sure you have captions turned on?

[@W9SL9Y]

Awesome content and material once again Terry ❤ wondering if you have any buddleja saligna/White Olive that might feature in a future video or how similar the techniques are you applied here? I bought one in a similar state in terms of very organic substrate and possibly allot of dead branches etc. was happy to hear you mention waiting to be certain some of those wouldn't back bud as I chose to do the same after a full repot and a few I thought were certainly dead have done just that and back budded well after a slow spring start. Thanks again for the great content and advice!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much Wesley! Great idea regards the Buddleja, in fact I dont have one in my collection but I should get one to use in some video content as you suggest, thank you. Good for you, its hard to resist the temptation to cut branches when you think they are no longer needed or are dead. Sometimes branches die too when the tree is weak but you are forced to do a repot to save the tree, so better to keep more and then remove some later - there is no rush after all. Thanks so much for watching and commenting, I appreciate it.

[@brucekelsch5080]

What time of the year did you repot the olive tree?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Early spring when the tree is starting to grow.

[@glamdring7515]

Hello! My olive bonsai lost its leaves due to fungus, what should I do?I used fungicide and copper. What technique should I apply to get leaves

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Hi there. Well I think you need to determine why you have the fungus in the first place and try to remedy that. A copper fungicide would be good yes. Once you have the fungus under control the leaves will grow again as normal. Do not fertilise before then hoping it will produce leaves.

[@glamdring7515]

​@@TerryErasmusbonsaithank you so much

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@glamdring7515 hope it helps.

[@Heisemberg000]

Which soil is better for olive tree? Tnx

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for the question. Not an easy one to answer because depending on where you live and what you have access to will determine what’s best. I would use something which is somewhat water retentive, but which drains well. Olives don’t like wet roots and they will suffer root easily. I use 100% Akadama for refined olives in small pots. When in development I will use more pumice, perhaps 50% pumice and 50% akadama as this will accelerate growth.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks for the question. Not an easy one to answer because depending on where you live and what you have access to will determine what’s best. I would use something which is somewhat water retentive, but which drains well. Olives don’t like wet roots and they will suffer root easily. I use 100% Akadama for refined olives in small pots. When in development I will use more pumice, perhaps 50% pumice and 50% akadama as this will accelerate growth.

[@Heisemberg000]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai Mediterranean zone. 35 summer 10 winter

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

@toedgein our climate is the same then. So if you can get the mediums I mentioned then you can use the same.

[@user-zu3wz1qj7u]

RIP Rudi ❤

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

He was quite the character wasn’t he!