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.

Okay. I'm going to take a stab at helping you here. Osmanthus fragrans has dark green, leathery leaves on a shrub that will naturally grow (slowly) tall (easy to keep it at 8 to 10 feet) and somewhat narrow (3 to 4 feet). It blooms in late fall and sporadically through the winter and spring. You wouldn't notice the tiny yellowish blooms, except that they smell positively divine. These shrubs are very nice at entrances to your home because of that lovely smell. I have mine at the back door in front of the power meter, etc. If you choose to plant them in a row, plant them about five feet apart. (Measure from center of one plant to center of the next.) Eleagnus would be a loosely mounding shrub, also with leathery leaves, but most commonly seen with a silvery/greyish/spotted speckled leaf that always makes me think "Poor sick thing". (As rhizo said, UglyAgnus.) There is also a (rather gaudy) green/yellow variegated form. Eleagnus often has thorns. It blooms in summer and by this time of year would have a berrylike fruit that resembles olives. (Of coure, yours would probably have been pruned off by now.) If this is the one you have, you need to know that it will want to grow 20 feet by 20 feet. They make a good substitute fence (well, maybe not good...) but you do not want it in a foundation planting unless your house is build on stilts! To tell you the truth, I wouldn't dig the holes for even a free eleagnus. Okay. You decide which you have and if you want to save it. The planting process is the same for either one. First, get it out of the bucket of water. A day or two is long enough for it to hydrate. After that, you risk root rot. Add several inches of compost (homemade) or manure (you can buy it in bags) to the area where you want to plant the shrub. The hole should be about 3 feet in diameter and about a foot deep. Pour the manure right over the hole area before you start digging. Next, use your shovel to cut that three foot circle around the manure (l foot, or one spade's depth). Then use your shovel to cut the circle into fourths (like pieces of pie). THEN, start to dig the dirt out of the circle, lifting and turning and dropping it right back in and breaking the soil up with the shovel into smaller and smaller pieces. (Cutting the circle into fourths will keep the pieces from being so heavy, thus saving your back.) Work around the circle 3 or 4 times, so the soil in the area is soft and crumbly, and the manure is so well mixed in that you can't see it anymore. THEN, make the hole for your plant. Since your plants are bare root, you should form a mound of soil in the bottom of your hole so that the top of the mound comes up almost to ground level. Set your plant right on top of the mound so that the roots are hanging down and around the mound. You want the crown (the point where the roots stop and the plant begins) to sit just above ground level when you are done planting. Hold the plant in position with one hand and scoop the soil you dug out back into the hole with the other hand, firming it around the roots and filling the hole back up to the base of the plant crown. THEN add two to four inches of mulch around the plant and over the entire three feet diameter hole area. Pull the mulch a couple of inches back from the crown so that air can circulate and the crown doesn't rot. WATER very very well. ONCE. Then, if you get rain every week, you're done. If you don't get rain, water once a week, but well. That's all. Lord willing, your shrub should grow without any problem. Since you have several, be sure to space them properly. If you do a good job, come spring, your plant should just take off. There's an old saying that you need a $100 hole for a $1 plant. Since you have five bushes, I'd advise you to get a friend or two to help you unless you have nice soft soil and are in really good shape. :)

I am having a difficult time trying to find out how to cloud prune an olive tree. Does anyone know where I can start or find additional information? I have found a few articles on pines...but not Olive trees. I have seen quite a few that have been done nicely and would like to do the same with mine. Thank you

I don' have an olive tree BUT I do have a wonderful recipe. Lye-Cured Green Olives Use olives that are mature but still green. Rinse olives with water & place into glass jars. Purchase lye in cleanser section of grocery store. Determine how much lye solution you need to cover olives. Add ratio of 1 qt water (65 to 70o) to 1 Tbps lye. Soak for 12 hours Drain olives; then soak 12 more hours in fresh lye solution. Drain and rinse. Cut into largest olive; if the lye has reached the pit,the lye solution is complete. If nessessary soak in fresh lye bath 12 more hours, drain and rinse with cold water. soak olives in fresh cold water, changing the water three (3) or more times a day for the next 3 day. At the end of three days taste an olive to make sure that thers is no lye taste of flavor. Water should be clear and not pink. Next soak olives for at least one (1) day in a brine solution: Ratio 6 Tbsp pickling salt to 1 gallon water. The olives are now ready to eat. Store in brine solution in cool, dark place. Refrigerator is great for this. You may add garlic cloves to olives and/or hot peppers. Linda