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olive tree pruning

19 years ago

I bought two small olive trees, single stem with good bushy growth at the top, and they have really grown this summer. I am not sure how I should prune them. There are no signs of fruit. I also got a bonsai that had been neglected, it has now started to shoot and I need to know how prune that as well!

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Comments (4)

Heathen1
19 years ago
Do you need to prune the olive trees? I am not an olive tree expert, but I have never seen an olive tree pruned. What kind of bonsai do you have? they are all different and you can get books on them. Bonsai's are often root pruned as well as branch pruned....
Sete
19 years ago
Yes, olive trees are definitely pruned, as we have just bought quite an old tree and planted it in our garden. I imagine late Autumn or Spring are the times to do it. The fruit is ready to pick in October - so after this. Young trees probably just need a trim.
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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.
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Not seeing how major pruning by a contractor every so many years into perpetuity is an economical choice. And if you have turned them into pollards or otherwise severely pruned specimens then the charm of the natural shapes has already been lost - maybe plant some more suitable kinds of trees among them, cut the olive trees out after the new set is of some size. Otherwise they should probably be trimmed frequently, maintained as formal specimens instead of getting whacked back hard at longer intervals. Every time they are forced to regrow most of the top that was present at the time they are drawing on nutrient reserves in the trunks and may be gradually becoming diminished by the repeated assaults. There is also the possibility of trunk decay developing due to the large pruning cuts being made. For planting near swimming pools you want plants with large parts that do not get sucked past filters. As you have described olive trees are probably about as bad a choice as one could come up with.
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i just bought some olive trees (1 year old), and now they are about 2- 2-1/2 feet tall. they seem to be alittle lanky and i was wondering if i can prune them down some, so they can have a stockier trunk later down the road, and won't break. i've never grown these before and was looking for a little guidance. or should i just let them do there natural thing. any suggestions? thanks ccwood
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wanton, there is a great deal of information to be found on the internet about the prunng of olive trees and I always recommend that you look through several resources. Click HERE for an interesting website about prunung. I glanced at a couple of websites, both said that the best time is in the late winter, just before the buds break in the spring.
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adamthegardener
19 years ago
Recently become proud owner of 70 olive trees. Surprised to discover there are at least 252 varieties!
For new trees try to achieve a bare trunk up to about five feet then keep the centre of your tree open by aiming for a goblet shape. Remove all suckers at least once during the summer months. Prune during the winter and prune fairly hard every three years - keep the centre open! If you don't spray , burn all prunings.
Arya Stark
7 years ago
I like the advice to trim the trunk up to 5 ft. But our olive trees are old and now have lots of large branches growing from the ground outward. Is it ok to chop those thicker branches? Or will this disturb the tree overall?

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