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Hi everyone,I just found this forum and thought I’d give it a try to get some help with a couple of trees I’ve inherited.They belonged to my mother-in-law, who’s getting older and can’t really look after them anymore, so she passed them on to me. One’s a lovely acer and the other is an olive tree. After bringing them to my place, I noticed some black spots on the olive tree branches and some black marks on the trunk of the acer. Both are looking a bit rough, to be honest.From what she told me, they’ve both been in the same pots for at least 10 years, possibly even 20! I’m honestly surprised they’ve survived that long in the same soil.Any advice? My first thought was to repot them and give them some time to recover, but I’d love to hear what others think.Thanks in advance!

DO NOT RE POT!!!!!
It is the wrong time of year. They both look ok to me. The black marks are nothing but normal. The Maple looks as it it may have been dry at some point, the Olive is fine. The best thing you can do is keep the Acer well watered, the Olive a bit drier for the rest of this year then next spring you can re pot the Maple, the Olive later in the spring. I can't see the whole of the Olive, but the yellowing leaves are normal, but if you want you could pull them off. The Maple could do with some of the older leaves removing. Otherwise do nothing, apart from water and fertiliser once a month until September. Put the Olive somewhere that is out of the rain for the winter, leave the Maple outside in the rain and frost.

In bonsai we repot out of aestetic reasons. A tree that have good inorganic soil mix and are fertilized correctly do not really require repotting for the sake of the health. If health is the issue it is better to leave it in the pot except if it is draining badly.

One must understand that repotting is very stressful for a tree. Prerequists is good health, the right time of the season, knowledge how to do it correctly and knowledge about correct aftercare.

Your trees looks healthy to me. I would suggest not to rush away. Make sure that you know how to keep the trees long term healthy. Then at the right time of the year do a planned repot.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply!?
If they’re healthy why the black spots?
We get nothing but rain here in Belfast so I’m a bit reluctant watering the plants. Its raining every other day pretty much. I would prob water after two days of dry weather. Am I right thinking that? The trees seem to be potted in regular compost. Temp here at the moment is around 10-17 degrees.

?Ok then I’ll plan to re-pot them next year.?

just one more question.
?Can you suggest a book to gain some knowledge on trees??

thx
Marino?

The black spots are nothing. There are plenty of good books, Have a look on Abebooks.co.uk The books written by Peter Adams are excellent, Also the one by Harry Tomlinson, but there are lots.?
You must be in a different country, we have had very little rain for the last few months, I am watering every day at least sometimes twice a day, and it is getting hotter again.

If the trees has been in regular compost and has not been repotted for 10-20 years. How come you thought repotting got urgent right now? A few years more or less makes no difference as long as the soil is draining.

Lots of rain and a big pot with organic soil may be an issue for the olive tree. You may want to consider giving it overhead protection if it stays wet for too long. The maple on the other hand loves it. I water my acers on rainy days as well.

Repotting trees that has grown in organic soil for 10-20 years can be very challenging. Very hard for beginners to know what to prune and what not to prune. I would suggest to ask at a club near you for someone to support.

m5eaygeoff wrote:

The black spots are nothing. There are plenty of good books, Have a look on Abebooks.co.uk The books written by Peter Adams are excellent, Also the one by Harry Tomlinson, but there are lots.?
You must be in a different country, we have had very little rain for the last few months, I am watering every day at least sometimes twice a day, and it is getting hotter again.
?

Yes I’m in belfast, Northern Ireland. As mentioned the maple trees love the weather here, on the other hand olive trees not so much. I don’t understand why olive trees are sold here to be honest, the climate isn’t suitable for olive trees. ?I’m originally from Greece so I’ve seen how olive trees thrive in such climate. Same in Greece, plants in summer need watered daily. Here watering is not an issue since over a week of dry weather is not common.?

Tropfrog wrote:

If the trees has been in regular compost and has not been repotted for 10-20 years. How come you thought repotting got urgent right now? A few years more or less makes no difference as long as the soil is draining.

Lots of rain and a big pot with organic soil may be an issue for the olive tree. You may want to consider giving it overhead protection if it stays wet for too long. The maple on the other hand loves it. I water my acers on rainy days as well.

Repotting trees that has grown in organic soil for 10-20 years can be very challenging. Very hard for beginners to know what to prune and what not to prune. I would suggest to ask at a club near you for someone to support.

That’s a good point about not rushing the re potting. The only thing that had me worried is the black spots. My first thought was poor water draining. As I said it constantly rains here. So instead of guessing I’ve watered the plants with the hose and the acer was draining great even with me pouring a lot of water. The olive tree not so well on the other hand. So thx for the advice, I’ll keep it sheltered, and off course outside but I’ll be watering it to make sure it’s not getting too much water.?

Instead of buying a book, find a local bonsai group and join it. Every book has advice related to the climate of the author but the local group has everyone from your climate and they can give advice on olives and every other species.

Belfast has a group that met June 13, so ask Google for more information.?