Bonsai - olive tree

Olive (Olea europaea) makes a brilliant bonsai for Melbourne. It loves heat and sun, handles a dry spell, and shrugs off our winters. Small grey-green leaves with silvery undersides, and a trunk that gets more gnarled and characterful the older it gets.

This is a young tree potted in a ceramic bonsai pot. An easy first bonsai, and a great gift for anyone with a sunny balcony or courtyard.

Care

Outdoors, full sun. It can come inside for a few days for a special occasion, but it needs to live outside to stay healthy. Water when the top centimetre of soil feels dry, and check daily in hot weather as small pots dry out fast. Don't leave it sitting in water. Feed from spring to autumn with a bonsai fertiliser. Trim new shoots back once they've grown a few pairs of leaves to keep the shape compact. Repot in spring only, every two to three years.

• Approx. tree height: 20cm
• Pot dimensions: 17cm (L) x 14cm (W) x 7.5cm (H)