Wild Olive Bonsai Development

[@TheBonsaiZone]

A spa day for the Olive!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Spa indeed Nigel 😂

[@oscarvidalquist]

always in the mood for olives! thanks, yoúve solved many of the doubts I had asked you.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Olives are wonderful to work with, glad I could help you enjoy them a little more Oscar.

[@amanciodelavara509]

Thank you very much Terry for your inspiring videos. I love olives! Greetings from Spain

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you Amancio! Thats such an encouraging thing to say. I must say I am super envious of the olives you have in your part of the world. My family and I were coming to visit Spain, but then COVID happened and we haven't gotten around to planning the trip again but its definitely on my short term to do list. The olives and of course the food are big attractions :)

[@TreeVibes]

What a fantastic tree.. looking forward to see it in a few years to see the development

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Plant Hunter, you and me both! 😉

[@bobcatbonsai]

Extremely informative video. Between the skill and information, I am very happy I watched this!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks so much Bobcat, much appreciated!

[@jeffhurst4744]

Good tips. Great tree! Betting it has progressed to an even better looking bonsai. Thanks.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

So nice of you! You can check out the latest video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWrcZmZ8m7x8rLc

[@quintanete76]

Thank you for the video. Really inspiring and full of great hints. Greetings from Madrid, 🇪🇸

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Glad you enjoyed it José! Thank you so much for commenting.

[@grahamleonard8060]

Beautiful tree Terry

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Graham. I thought you were coming to visit when you were in the area earlier this year!

[@grahamleonard8060]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai sorry I was . Time ran away but will be back

[@cb6778]

Thanks

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Ahhh, thanks man Christopher. Really appreciate 🙇🏼‍♂️

[@BONSAIenCORTO]

Its incredible!!!! Really thank you for these tips.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

You're so welcome! 😊

[@aSon0fLiberty]

Thank you Terry very much for this informative video ! I love your channel, I have learned a lot of things on it ! There are few high-quality videos made about olive trees, so please feel free to make more and more ;) Greatings from south of France.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you very much for watching and for your comment. I agree, there is little out there on olives and as these grow prolifically where I live, I will try to make more effort to feature them more. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@mohetower]

Very nice When are wild olives moved from their place to the container? Thank you, your videos are wonderful

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks! Usually in spring when they start growing is the best time.

[@robmac5086]

Great video thankyou.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Very welcome Rob! Thanks for watching.

[@simonjones686]

Thanks Terry, another well presented and informative video 👍🏾 Here in the UK we are still in winter, hopefully 4-6 weeks away from spring. As your in South Africa am I correct in saying you undertook this work during mid summer, therefore I/KZbin We should wait until mid summer for olive work. I have a very sorry looking garden pot olive which has a great base and trunk but a Pom Pom top (a garden centre style) losing lots of leaves and brown, with some green. Should I wait till mid summer June/July or give it a trim now to encourage spring growth?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Simon! Yes I did this mid summer. Depends on what you want to do or what result you are looking for. I find a better response to this sort of work is when the tree is active and charged with loads of energy. So late spring is good. You might want to start though by repotting the tree into good bonsai growing medium before you start working on it. Normally leaf loss occurs when the tree is growing and the leaves are replaced by new leaves simultaneously. If you’re losing leaves or even worse, twigs; during dormancy then it could be a root related problem ie your soil is too water retentive.

[@stonelantern1584]

Great video Terry. And a very interesting topic. To add a question, or two. I see that you strip the leaves of the longer branches with your hand. Do you remove all the leaves on the tree/branch at this stage, and why do you do it? Don't you damage dormant buds while stripping the leaves off the branches? When is the best time to do this work? Do you at any stage totally defoliate olives? I thought you did brilliant videos, but the quality keep getting better and better. Great work.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you very much Stephen. You’re one of the very few South African bonsai artists who watch my videos AND comment. So thanks for that. As for the questions, sure, always happy to answer. I strip the leaves by hand as it’s much quicker to do it this way rather than the use defoliation shears or scissors. When done correctly it seems to have zero effect on the dormant buds. (And to make 200% certain I just went to check on this tree and at every point where a leaf was pulled, growth is developing.) As the tree is in development I would not consider defoliating it completely as it will weaken the tree, which would be counterproductive. So for now I only remove the leaves where I plan to wire, so that i don’t have leaves getting in the way. At this stage there is no other reason for removing leaves but in future stages of development the purpose is different. The best time to do this kind of “big” work where branches are being cut and where a response is desired would be just before or during periods of active growth. Big cuts like this cause redistribution of hormones and therefore backbudding. Doing the work in a period of dormancy makes zero sense then. Yes, I like to defoliate a developed olive very early in the season before the spring growth spurt or again later in the growing season before another growth spurt. Removing the leaves permits lots of light to access the branch structure of the tree. If you do some trimming at the tips this will stimulate hormone redistribution at the same time; these two actions combined result in lots of dormant buds becoming active. These buds can be developed and when developed into branches they contribute to the ramification. Defoliation is a great technique but can easily be misused. Thanks so much for the kind words regards the videos. I guess after doing over 100 videos I ought to be getting some things right! 😃 When people give constructive criticism I do consider how I can build on what is working. Thanks again for watching and commenting! 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@sueb1317]

Thank you for these helpful tips Terry. I've been struggling a bit with branch cutting and wiring. Looking forward to practicing what I've learned!

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Glad to help Sue!

[@arnopienaar8111]

Bravo

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Arno 🙏🏻

[@giampaolomannelli9938]

Esemplare magnifico, peccato per la mancanza dei sottotitoli.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thank you so much! Please be sure to watch the latest video I just uploaded on this tree. Subtitles should automatically be generated for you.

[@jonobateman3494]

When collecting olives, do you reduce thin branches and essentially plant a stump (maybe with a couple short thick branches) without any leaves at all?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Great question! Usually there aren’t any thin branches, only thick ones. These are cut back but you need to be careful with how much you cut off as these will usually be carved. You normally create the branch structure from new growth as the existing growth is normally too thick to use. Yes, all leaves are removed. Read this blog I wrote: www.bonsaitree.co.za/blogs/tree-talk/8-tips-for-post-collection-care-of-wild-olives

[@koenvanmeerbeeck8724]

very nice video terry....untill when can i still prune an olive tree? is end of may to late to work on them?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Koen I don’t think so but bear in mind that late may is my autumn. Provided the tree is well fed and growing strongly you can prune any time. However it depends on your objective. No back budding will take place if the tree is not active so perhaps better to wait till it is. Also, if you live where the nights can dip to freezing temps should there be any new growth it may be damaged. I usually find early spring before spring push is best. Then through the growing season till perhaps late summer or early autumn. Then I leave the tree to rest.

[@jinjohn2572]

Hello, I noticed that on my olive trees, the ligature made me dry the branches a few months later. I do not observe this with my ficus, erables and grenadiers. Yet I go carefully and do ligatures with little angulation without breaking the branches. No problems however with the guying. Maybe it’s because I don’t leave the branch long enough to promote the circulation of sap? Thank you for your feedback. cordially, jean

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Hello Jean. Thanks for your question. I am not sure I understand though. Are you asking about wiring?

[@jinjohn2572]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai hello, yes, i asking about wiring. thanks

[@dotta4763]

Your olive bonsais are great. Do you provide remote consulting for somebody who wants to work on such projects ?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Yes I am sure I can assist you. I charge a standard consultation fee and then we can determine the best method of conducting the session. You can book consultation time here: www.bonsaitree.co.za/products/consultation

[@waynes3606]

G'day again Terry, I have acquired a 40-year olive group, which has been kept in a semi shade environment for the last 10years, leaving the well ramified (open ramification not tight) trees with only foliage on the outer ends, I have it in full sun and it has been repoted, and is healthy, but there is very little back budding, is there any way to force some back budding? And best time of year to carry out.?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Hi Wayne. Olives like a lot of sun. Semi shade is not ideal for them unless perhaps in a scorching summer sun. It sounds like you have rectified this now though. Back budding will only occur as a result of some pruning action and assumed the plant has sufficient resources. If it’s the first year after repotting then I’d advise against a big cut back but if not and the tree has grown significantly then cutting back to roughly 2 leaves should stimulate back budding. If not then the trees are not as healthy as you believe and need to be fed a lot more prior to pruning.

[@waynes3606]

@Terry Erasmus Thankyou.

[@nancyfahey7518]

If that is an Olea europaea, the leaves are bitter but have several health benefits.

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Interesting. I did not know that.

[@gloriablanco7856]

You can infuse the leaves and its very helpful for blood pressure problems.

[@nancyfahey7518]

@@gloriablanco7856 infuse? I know how to ferment. How about that?

[@kimnarenks7797]

Hi bro , I have doubt on growing conifers such as shimpaku juipers...etc in tropical dry climates Can they perform super good in such climates? I am in India

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

That’s a question I don’t feel I should answer definitely Kim. Taiwan which of course is tropical grows incredible junipers but they are Taiwan Juniper. Shimpaku is simply the Japanese term by which Juniperus chinensis is known. So I’m not sure which specific varieties you want to grow in India.

[@darrenfisherman3838]

What’s a good fertiliser for olive

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Thanks Darren for the question. I use solid fertilizer, BonsaiBoost www.bonsaitree.co.za/products/bonsaiboost-organic-bonsai-fertilizer-retail-pack and liquid organic: www.bonsaitree.co.za/products/seabrix

[@Martin-jt3zu]

Hi Terry, do you perhaps have any advice for a Wild olive that has been attacked by white grubs? took me a while to identify the issue, and get rid of the little grubs, but the tree does not seem to be improving in health?

[@TerryErasmusbonsai]

Use Plant Care as a soil drench to kill the grubs. Stop using organic components in your growing medium.

[@Martin-jt3zu]

@@TerryErasmusbonsai ok, thanks so much Terry. I've been using Bonsai Boost, and your general soil mix. Hopefully I can nurse it back to health.