Hello.

My local nursery has a garden sale this weekend, and one of the interesting
things bonsai-wise was some Olive trees they had.

They are not trained as bonsai, but they were not expencive, so I was
wondering whether I might buy one and train it. The plants were about 20
inches tall, with a trunk dia. of about 1 - 1,5 inches. There were not many
branches low on the trunk, all the branches seem to come out around halfway
up the tree height, where the trunk parts in a fork. These branches then
extends upwards. There is no drastic taper, and the foiliage seem to be at
the end of all the branches. They are probably shoots that have come from
the trunk.

I know it's not very good described, but does it sound like something worth
buying ? Could it be possible to turn this into a respectable tree in the
not to distant future ?

I have read the Olea does not develop new branches easily, so my concern is
that if I am to prune this plant, it will be a bit hard, since all the
foiliage is at the end (halfway out) of the branches. To reduce the height
of the tree I need to get new growth closer to the trunk...

Any help would be appreciated : ) Links to Olea Europeae pictures would help
me to get the impression of what styling might be possible and how that
could be applied to the ones on sale.

Best Regards & Happy Easter
Eirik Kjølsrud
Hamar, Norway