Hi, I have a couple of baby olive trees which I have in a plater outdoors. Lots and lots of hot sun but one of them is really struggling. From the base of the trunk (it's only 3/4" wide) it has sort of spidered out to 7 spindly branches but there is no leaf growth for about 10 inches so it looks very weird! Have added some photos at the link below. Am wondering if I was to brutally prune it to the base again, will it grow back? The other one is doing much better and is in the same spot, pot and soil. Different species though I think. Any help and guidance would be much appreciated. I'm pretty black thumbed! http://www.inhongkong.hk/homestuff/oliver.html

I have an olive tree that is a Mission olive tree I planted two years ago and I have not pruned it since it was planted and I have never gotten any fruit from the tree. It did produce what looked like little flowers that blossomed and fell off but I have never had any fruit and I think it's because of the lack of pruning which made the tree look wild and crazy. Can anyone tell me how much to prune from the pics and how to do it.

Hiya Tom and all, As usual, I agree with Lazy: you can prune that olive as hard and as frequently as you want and it will be just fine. It WILL, however, be a lot of frequent work for you or whoever ends up doing it though. There are lots of smaller trees that would fit in that space and not need such intensive maintenance, but if your heart is set on a fruitless olive, it'll work. Let us know what you decide and how it works out! Happy gardening, Grant Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden, March 2014

No, I haven't Westelle. I suspect this refers to not leaving stubs when you prune. If you are always pruning to a side branch, in essence thinning and heading back, you can also shorten extra long young willowy branches, and they will tend to have multiple new shoots near the cuts. I think it is the nature of Olive trees to want to be very dense and shade their own roots, probably as a defense against long hot summers and drying winds. To open them up as young plants will take continued pruning, as they want to "recover" their density if left to themselves.