little ollie dwarf olive

I am in florida,amelia island,, for a week... i found a little olive at home depot and want to try it for bonsai...suggestions needed this one is new to me...can i trim some branches back to take up less room ?????thanks john

Hi John,

I suggest you wait until coming (early) spring and repot it into pure lava.
Also, protect it from hard frosting in the winter. It can take some cold, but not too much.

Lava is the natural soil it lives and grows in, in it's natural habitat, namely Italy, Greece and even more down south into Israel and Egypt.
Olives need dry soil, as dry as can be!

After that you will see your plant will be very happy and you can begin trimming it later in the year towards autumn.

Good luck

Greets - R3mco

thank you R3moc,,For your reply .. i guess i can study tiis for a while take care john

I'd like to suggest that olives need a well draining soil, not a dry soil. They definately can't tollerate standing in water, but in my experience, if you keep your soils free draining with a decent grit size, you can water as often as you want.

Old Olive tree, Garden Gethsemane, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, Israel.

Andrew Legg wrote:I'd like to suggest that olives need a well draining soil, not a dry soil. They definately can't tollerate standing in water, but in my experience, if you keep your soils free draining with a decent grit size, you can water as often as you want.

Exactly so! Blessed olive trees!!!
I would like to add though that they like their soil to be towards the dry side between waterings.

Here in Greece the big olive trees cultivated for fruit and oil production as well are being pruned during the harvest (usually November-December) or immediately after that or during autumn. But during the months that lymph has begun to move pruning is avoided because the wounds are difficult to heal. Pruning should also be avoided just before winter months in frosty regions.

moyogijohn wrote: I am in florida,amelia island,, for a week... i found a little olive at home depot and want to try it for bonsai...suggestions needed this one is new to me...can i trim some branches back to take up less room ?????thanks john

So, for reasons of ease in transportation I would say that you can safely clip some growth.

Thank you very much for your replys... Billy that is a awsome tree !! it is good to talk to everyone on my wifes computer....take care john

Was it labeled "Little Ollie?" That is a specific cultivar. If it wasn't labeled and you don't know, it is just Olea europeaea.
Iris

Mrs. Iris,,, the lable is little ollie dwarf olive.. olea europaea montra ...hope this helps thank you for your post..take care john

Then that's what you've got. A wonderful cultivar. You can look it up at Monrovia Nurseries. They originated it as a non-fruiting yard tree for California. Since it was patented, it was sold for many years with a wink instead of a label, like F. b. 'TooLittle.'
Iris

moyogijohn wrote:Mrs. Iris,,, the lable is little ollie dwarf olive.. olea europaea montra ...hope this helps thank you for your post..take care john

Yes they are all over the place here, a small less then 10 footer, suckers galore, small leaf, no fruit,
otherwise typical
euro olive, I do most of my work on them right now

Rock,, thanks for posting... I live in west virginia but can keep the tree inside..would everyone wait to do work on it when i go home ???thanks take care john