I've had such bad luck with air layering that I hesitate to remove the top by air-layer. Maybe in a year or two - if I keep it from getting any taller - I can get him to fill out a bit. I do wish I had better trunk taper here.

Michael Johnson (11-6-95) - Regarding the black olive, with that strong leaning over at the top have you considered leaning the whole tree that way some more and making it into a windswept style? If you didn't want to do that, I'd consider removing most of the branches on the lower half of the trunk, just leaving the two that are on the outside of each bend, and maybe go for a slanting style.

Sandy Vrooman (11-9-95) - Without the top you have a nice little tree.

David Waldo (11-10-95) - Too bad you say you would hate to loose the top. It must look much different in person. The roots look nice and the trunk has a nice flow to it. However, counting up from the right, the third pad of foliage is a little too small. The top on this tree also looks too big. A simple style for this tree could be to remove (or shorten) the fourth branch on the right and remove the large top to the left of this branch. Thus making the fourth pad of foliage on the right the apex.

Jerry McNey (3-15-96) - Start by looking at the root structure to determine your front. The photo suggests that they are contorted and need straitening. Once the front is determined, seriously consider removing the top at the second branch on the left, and bring up that branch as the apex. The tree appears to be just too tall for the diameter of the trunk. Depending on your climate and growing conditions, olive will root rather easily from cuttings, including hard wood.

Randy Schaap (10-05-96) - One idea might be to take branch 6 (as it appears in the picture) and make that the new leader. The trunk has very little taper until the very top. Next, try to develope some foliage pads. Branch 1 and the crown of the tree is robbing the strength from the rest of the tree. Pinching back branch 1, and lopping off the crown and training branch 6 as the new leader should even out the strength of the tree. You may want to try doing some wiring...even though this species has a natural "bonsai" growth habit. But watch out for those "prickies".

Next, the nebari (surface rootage), has got to change somehow. The picture shows that the nebari may be somewhat unbendable. If you feel that they may be bendable, wrap them with raffia and apply the wire. Two strands of lower gauge would be better than one strand of heavy gauge. Try to obtain that sought after horizontal spread.

Jim Thomas (1-9-97) - It's the Yooper! I pulled your black olive gif off of the style corner and did some "virtual styling". I am far from an expert at styling so I tried to take some of the advice from the others and apply it to your tree. It's my first attmpt at virtual pruning and i couldn't quite figure out how to get the apex tipped the right way and by the time I was done clipping the background was a mess, so I blurred it, and sharpened the focus and contrast.