A little more than a year after a wildfire swept through Ayalon Canada Park in Israel, severely damaging the ancient olive trees at its popular Olive Tree Recreation Area, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) reports that some of the trees once believed to be lost have survived. They are now undergoing a unique rehabilitation process, at the end of which they will become bonsai trees and be displayed to the public.
Just days after the fire in May 2025, experts surveyed the site and discovered that although the trunks and canopies of the trees had burned, the root collars of some of them were still alive. Because the damaged trees could no longer provide shade in the recreation area, mature olive trees were planted in their place. Rather than discard the burned stumps, however, KKL-JNF uprooted them and transferred them to a nursery in an effort to give them a second life.
The stumps were placed in a growing medium called pumice, which maintains optimal moisture levels while allowing oxygen to reach the root zone, thereby reducing the risk of rot. To encourage root development, the stumps are kept in a greenhouse, under warm conditions and 70% humidity. Most of the foliage was removed to reduce water loss and prevent the stumps from drying out before a new root system could develop.
After about a month, fresh leaves began to emerge, followed several weeks later by new roots.
The method is based on a bonsai technique learned from Shai Cohen, the bonsai artist at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens at Givat Ram, as part of a collaboration with KKL-JNF’s Central Region.
In the world of bonsai, mature trees with unique histories, structures and textures hold artistic and botanical value. Regarding this, the ancient appearance and burn marks left on the stumps are expected to become defining elements of their design.
According to Rotem Attias, manager of KKL-JNF’s Eshtaol Nursery, “the trees were severely damaged, but we discovered that life remained within the stumps. The precise treatment and the greenhouse conditions make it possible to develop a new root system and transform trees once considered lost into trees with a unique character and story.”
Once the rooting process is complete, the stumps will undergo specialized bonsai shaping, after which they will be displayed to the public at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens at Givat Ram and at KKL-JNF’s Eshtaol Nursery.
Ori Fragman-Sapir, scientific director of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens at Givat Ram and co-author of Israel’s “Red Book” on endangered plants, said: “The renewed sprouting of these ancient olive stumps reminds us of the vitality, remarkable regenerative power, and resilience of trees, living beings that outlive us and produce far more offspring than we do.”
