Nice chunk of olivewood.
If it was my tree, I would probably put it in a really big pot or preferably, put it in the ground and get the tree established with live structure that is at least partially proportionate to the size of the deadwood.
Working deadwood Bonsai is an art.
I don’t claim to be good at it, but my best suggestion is to practice on scrapwood Before going at anything you value that is meant to be kept.
The tree is currently disproportionate and I see the need to develop a significant amount of live tissue as the first goal, but that’s just my thought.
I included a picture of Peter Tea’s basic bonsai development recommendations.
The second link is from a talk he gave at the Sacramento Society meeting.
I recognize the video is a bit long, but if you can sit through the whole thing, it points out some really important basic concepts that can save people a lot of time to get better trees by doing the correct steps at the correct time.
I think I’ve watched a video four times and every time I look at my trees, I now go back to his basic formula which is always focus on number number one before going to number two etc.
Perhaps you’ll find his concepts helpful as well.
The ability for Olivewood to root is quite spectacular.
I’ve had fairly big segments of Elm grow roots the way Willows can.
Have fun working the deadwood!!!
