Page 8 - BSAM 2016 Q3

ESTABLISHING A PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRANCHES AND FUTURE PROGRESS
RESULTS AFTER THE INITIAL SHAPING PHASE
• New buds emerge from the trunk.
• Thorough study of the tree and structural planning.
• Selection of those buds that will compose the primary branch structure of the tree.
• Suppression of those buds that do not contribute to the design.
• Wiring of those buds that will compile the tree’s primary branch structure.
• The branches that are wired are left alone and, spontaneously, new secondary growth appears.
• Elimination of water shoots.
• As soon as the wire starts to bite
in, a revision of the entire tree is performed and the wire is removed. If necessary, new branches are wired into position and those buds that are now secondary branches are rectified or left alone, according to plan.
• This process is repeated until the structure of the tree is established and all objectives are accomplished.
Wild olives have a particular styling method, given the fact that they are shaped upon a trunk devoid of branches and that the entire- ty of the branch structure must be created from new buds that emerge from the trunk.
For this reason, establishing a plan is a must.
Wild olives develop numerous buds and branches at a fast, vigorous rate. As such, they require careful attention in order to re- direct strength to those areas that conform to our design plan.
If you don’t carefully trace a design plan and don’t have a clear idea of the nal shape you wish to achieve, all that energy will go to waste.
THERE ARE TOO MANY SUB-BRANCHES Eliminate
By following the preconceived image, we carefully shape those new tender branches and eliminate those that appear sporadically in di erent areas and that don’t contribute to our overall design.
During the rst years, pinching of branches is delayed and scarce, as branches are al- lowed to elongate and all energy will be con- centrated on gaining girth on those branches that will compose the primary, secondary and tertiary branch structure of the tree.
In this initial phase and during those rst years, the use of wire and tourniquets are our best allies in terms of reaching our objec- tives.
Eliminate
In the first phase and while giving shape to this branch, too many sub-branches were left untouched. Now, they do not have sufficient room to grow. Some of these need to be eliminated in order to improve the structure of the branch. The empty spaces that result after this operation will be covered by the fine ramification of each sub-branch.
FEAR OF EMPTY SPACES
In planning our design objectives, it is not only important to place emphasis solely on the trunk line and branch distribution. Foliar mass placement plays an important role, so the distribution of empty spaces is an important factor to take into consideration.
A cionados frequently have an obsession with back branches. is need to garner back branches at all costs is, in many cases, the genesis of many problems.
In the rst stages of shaping, when we are shaping secondary branches, it is fundamen- tally important to foresee beyond the present state of the tree and mentally visualize the
nished product in order to be able to leave su cient space in between those branches and the green masses that will emerge from them. If we allow the development of too many branches, there will be no room for those branches to grow, all branches will be cluttered thus creating a clumping e ect; there will be no room for air and empty spaces.
Branch structures must have order, ow and ample room in function to our design plan.
Allowing too many branches to develop will result in a thick mass; monotonous and heavy in appearance. Generally speaking,
branches that subdivide into smaller/mul- tiple masses with even distribution are more attractive; being these small/evenly distrib- uted masses the components of each pri- mary branch.
6 | BCI | July/August/September 2016