Hi all.

Below I have attached 2 images of my 10 year old Wild Olive. I decided to create a windswept style with this particular tree. I also carved out the trunk to give it character and age. Everything is going well, besides one stubborn branch that doesn't want to stay in the position that I want it to. (But that's okay)

Would this tree be better suited in a reasonably smaller sized rectangular pot?

Much appreciated
Kyle

howdy Kyle,

yes i would go with a smaller pot it will make the tree seem so much bigger...as for the branch you need to either wire it or tie it down,what you are attempting will only work on very new growth ..nice tree by the way

Thanks so much for the advice.

Hi Kyle,

Very nice tree. I luv the Olive tree and I think the wind-swept look works well. I agree with manofthetrees...a smaller and somewhat shallower dish would look so much better. I recently read the length of the dish should be not go beyond the width of the foliage when viewing from the front. Have you considered an oval shaped dish? I also agree with wiring or tie-down of the branch depending on where you want it to go.

Keep up the good work!

Leslie

It's a good choice to make a windswept style out of this tree, the trunk is crafted very well and good positioning of the branches.

As for the pot: Definitely in a smaller pot, you see that the pot is bigger than the tree is. Mostly the tree is bigger than the pot is, this gives the illusion that the tree is very old and big.

Good luck with finding out a good pot!

@ Leslie, thanks for the advice/tip, i'll definitely keep that in mind in future.

@ Youri1995, I can see where you are coming from, thank you.

Getting some great advice/feedback from this forum, I really appreciate it.

It's a really cute little wild olive tree, I like it! The pot is kind of big for it, but I understand that it might not be so simple to find a suitable one right away. I have a number of perfectly good bonsai in regular flower pots.
Also: HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH THE TRUNK?!?!?! I have never even thought of doing something like that. How did you do it? What did you use? A pocketknife? The tip of a concave cutter? Please share!

Hi Kyle,

A little thought re. the pot. You probablyu want to grow the tree out a little bit more, so it has some more foliage on the pads? If so, then you might conside to not reduce the pot size. Typically you then give the plant more room to express itself and produce organic matter.

@ BassandBonsai, I enjoy your enthusiasm and positive approach to Bonsai. As I already had deadwood up the side of my Bonsai, I simply made multiple carves, at different times, into the wood using a 'Dremel' power tool. So basically I slowly carved my way deeper into the trunk, relative to the rate that the wood was dying. When doing this you should be incredibly cautious of cutting into living wood.

I would love to show you some different stages in my carving but I keep getting errors when I try to upload photos in the gallery.

Enjoy

@ Leatherback, Hello. That is fantastic advice! One of my Bonsai friends told me the same thing! Thank you, I really appreciate the good advice.

Cool! Dremel power tool, I think I saw an infomercial on that. I think I'll stick to my pocketknife though, even if it is a lot slower. Good luck finding a new pot/letting it grow out more, whichever you decide on!