pruning and trimming hedges

Pruning Olive Trees

Table of Contents
    Add a header to begin generating the table of contents

    In order to maintain the health and vitality of your olive trees, you must be familiar with proper pruning techniques.

    Olive trees, also known as Olea europaea, are gorgeous evergreens that thrive in containers or when planted in the ground. Olive trees, along with the majority of other plant species and fruit trees that you might be raising, will require periodic pruning. However, you will be rewarded with delicious, juicy olives grown on your own tree if you take the time to care for the tree.

    Olive trees, indigenous to the Mediterranean region, are widely regarded as among the most desirable evergreen plants for gardens. They have a history of long life, and it has been shown that they can live for up to two thousand years because of their nearly impenetrable root system. They have lived for up to one thousand years.

    Olive trees are a fantastic option for dry environments, especially as summers become more prone to drought. But, it is important to know when to plant fruit trees for the best possible outcomes.

    After planting your tree and giving it time to become established, the following stage is to 

    educate yourself on the proper way to prune olive trees so that your tree remains healthy and attractive.

    Olives have a very sluggish growth rate and do not require much trimming in their early years; in fact, leaving them alone at this time will help to generate a stronger and healthier specimen. Olives can live for hundreds of years if properly cared for. When your tree is a few years old, thinning it out will permit more light to pass through and, in the country's warmer regions, will encourage fruit development. The following guides when and how to prune an olive tree.

    When to Prune Olive Trees?

    It is best to wait until the olive trees have completed their first and second years before beginning to prune them. It is safe for you to use that pruner on the branches of your olive tree once the tree has at least four years of age under its belt. You mustn't interfere with the development of the foliage during these early years. Because the leaves of a tree produce the tree's food, having a lot of leaves when the tree is young gives a good source of energy for the tree's growth.

    Why prune?

    Most people who read this will have only a few olive trees, if any at all, and will either pick their olives by hand or utilise simple hand-held machines to make the process go more quickly. In either scenario, productive picking requires a healthy amount of fruit to be distributed evenly throughout each branch. Olives will be dispersed in clusters of one or two all over an unkempt bush if a tree has yet to be clipped promptly. It can be time-consuming and expensive to collect fruit from these trees. Even if you are only using your own labour and the unpaid assistance of friends, choosing as efficiently as possible is still necessary. 

    The most disappointing aspect of slow work is waiting. Forming dense clusters that can be easily removed from the tree in large quantities is one of the key goals of pruning.

    In every single facet of olive farming and oil manufacturing, there has been a significant amount of research carried out by scientists. At every stage, from the fruit's setting to the oil's generation, the olive fruit has been shown to have a critical requirement for intense sunlight. Olive blooms located in areas of heavy shade will not produce fruit in significant numbers. Those who do so will not create significant quantities of oil. It is, therefore, necessary to perform pruning to lessen the density of the foliage and make it possible for the sunlight to reach every component of the olive tree.

    Which instruments and tools do I need for pruning olive trees?

    You will need a few fundamental tools, including the following, in order to prune an olive tree:

    • Pruning shears - When cutting smaller branches up to a diameter of half an inch, pruning shears are the tool of choice. It would be best if you were looking for a set of shears that feels good in your hand and has blades that are both sharp and of great quality.
    • Loppers - Loppers are tools that are used to trim branches with a diameter of up to 2 inches. Because the handles on these are longer than those on pruning shears, you can use them to reach higher branches. Try to find a set of loppers with long, solid handles and blades that are sharp and long-lasting.
    • Pruning saw - When cutting thicker branches or branches with a thickness that is too great for pruning shears or loppers, a pruning saw is the tool of choice. Look for a saw with a curved blade made specifically for cutting down tree branches.
    • Gloves - Using gloves when you prune is a good idea since it helps protect your skin from being cut and scratched. Pruning can be rough on your hands. Try to get a pair of gloves that not only last a long time but are also flexible and comfortable to wear.
    • Safety glasses - When pruning trees, it is essential to wear eye protection due to the possibility of flying debris. Put on a pair of safety glasses so that sawdust, wood chips, and other particles won't get in your eyes and cause irritation.
    • Ladder - To reach higher branches of your tree, use a ladder. This is dependent on the size of your tree. Choose a solid ladder that is long enough to reach the branches that need to be pruned, and make sure it is tall enough.
    trimming hedges Melbourne

    How to Prune Olive Trees 

    When it comes time to shape the tree, remember that it is preferable to make a few strategically positioned cuts rather than a few minor cuts. This is because making a few strategically placed cuts will produce better results than making a lot of minor cuts. When making these cuts, you ought to use both a lopper and a pruning saw to get the best results. An open-centre or vase approach is most commonly used for pruning olive trees. When you prune a tree using this technique, you will remove branches from the centre of the tree to allow more light to penetrate the tree's canopy. 

    Removing the tree's tallest branches is another option for maintaining a tolerable height for the tree. This is often one of the most important considerations that should be made before cutting olive trees that are kept in pots. It would be best if you used thinning cuts instead of heading cuts because heading cuts will foster new growth that is quite tall. Thinning cuts will not have this effect. There is a distinction to be made between cutting something away during the process of thinning and cutting something off during the process of heading, which is also referred to as a topping cut. When pruning an olive tree, it is standard procedure to make thinning cuts whenever that option is available.

    .

    Methods for the thinning and shaping of olive trees

    • Timing - Olive trees are often pruned in the latter part of winter or early spring when the tree is still dormant. This makes it possible to access the structure of the tree more easily and lessens the likelihood that new growth will be damaged.
    • Thinning - The thinning process entails cutting some of the smaller and more feeble branches from a plant to encourage the development of larger and more robust branches. This method contributes to preserving a balanced structure and enables increased light transmission.
    • Heading back - The removal of the tips of the branches in order to stimulate development in a lateral direction is known as heading back. This method helps to generate a tree that is fuller and bushier, and it also has the potential to improve the amount of fruit produced.
    • Renewal pruning - To encourage the development of new growth, renewal pruning entails the removal of older, less productive wood. This method can potentially improve fruit production while also helping aged trees regain their vitality.
    • Cleaning out - The removal of dead, diseased, or damaged wood is part of the "cleaning out" process, which encourages healthy growth and stops the spread of diseases.
    • Crown thinning - The process of removing some of the tree's higher branches, known as "crown thinning," so that more light may penetrate the tree's trunk and lower branches are called "thinning the crown." This method has the potential to increase fruit yield while also lowering the prevalence of the disease.
    • Scaffold selection - The process of selecting the major branches of the tree for the scaffold entails removing any diseased branches, crossing, or otherwise unhealthy. This method contributes to creating a sturdy, well-balanced structure and can potentially increase the amount of fruit produced.

    Common Mistakes Whic Beginners Often Make

    Olive tree pruning is a necessary activity that contributes to preserving the tree's health and ability to produce olives. Nonetheless, during the process of trimming, there is a high potential for making some frequent blunders. The following are some examples:

    • Over-pruning - Over-pruning olive trees is one of the most typical errors that occur throughout the pruning process. Stressing out the tree and reducing its ability to bear fruit can be accomplished by removing an excessive number of branches or by pruning them back too harshly. It is essential to practise correct pruning procedures and to refrain from cutting away more than one-third of the tree's canopy in a single growing season.
    • Pruning at the wrong time - Another common oversight is performing olive tree pruning at the incorrect time of year. When done during the growing season, pruning can encourage new growth, which in colder locations might make the plant more susceptible to damage from frost. It is normally recommended to perform any necessary pruning during the dormant season, which occurs in the late winter or early spring.
    • Using dull or dirty tools - While pruning, using tools that are either dull or unclean can cause damage to the tree as well as raise the chance of disease. Be cautious to keep your instruments in good shape by keeping them sharp, clean, and sanitised between usage in order to reduce the risk of disease transmission.
    • Removing too much inner growth - It is essential to remove any diseased, damaged, or decaying wood from the tree; yet, it is possible to make a mistake by removing an excessive amount of the tree's inner growth. Suppose you cut away an excessive number of branches from the trunk of a tree. In that case, you run the danger of reducing the tree's capacity to produce fruit and increasing the likelihood that any remaining fruit will be sunburnt.
    • Pruning too much or too little - It is essential to avoid excessive or insufficient trimming by striking a balance between the two. When pruning is done improperly, it can cause the tree to become overgrown and unproductive. When it is done improperly, it can cause the tree's vigour and productivity to decrease. It is essential to practise correct pruning procedures and to refrain from cutting away more than one-third of the tree's canopy in a single growing season.
    watering

    Should I Shape My Olive Tree?

    Whether or not you should shape an olive tree depends entirely on your own particular preferences.

    The mono-conical 'Christmas tree' and the poly-conical 'vase' are the two most common shapes for olive trees. However, olive trees planted at home should ideally have an open vase shape rather than the Christmas tree shape, which is usually utilised for harvesting olives using machinery.

    Olive trees are rather quick to mature into fruiting trees. In a few years, the plants will develop rapidly, and it is essential to keep them in the proper shape. It is necessary to remove any growth from within the crown that is thin or weak in order to enable air and light to travel through the tree.

    This is of the utmost importance when cultivating olive trees in tiny gardens, as the light that is allowed to pass through the tree will contribute to the creation of the illusion of more space.

    How to prune an olive tree for eight steps?

    1. Pick the proper time of year - Olive trees should ideally be pruned in the late winter or early spring when the tree is dormant and easiest to work with. This makes it possible to access the structure of the tree more easily and lessens the likelihood that new growth will be damaged.
    2. Examine the tree - To begin, examine the tree to determine its overall structure and its state of health. Determine whether pieces of wood need to be removed because they are damaged, infected, or dead.
    3. Remove the debris from the tree's core - Take off all of the water sprouts and suckers growing from the tree's trunk. Moreover, cut back any branches that are developing in the direction of the tree's centre, crossing one another, or rubbing against one another.
    4. Pick small, weak, or spindly branches to remove from the tree to thin it out. Remove these branches so that you are only left with larger, more strong branches.
    5. Reduce the length of the branch tips by one-third to one-half in order to promote the development of lateral growth by performing this pruning technique. This will help develop a tree that is fuller and bushier and may also improve the amount of fruit the tree produces.
    6. Renewal pruning: If the tree is old and not producing fruit anymore, consider rejuvenating it by removing part of the older wood. Each year, prune the tree by removing one or two of the largest and oldest branches that are close to the trunk. This will encourage new development.
    7. Crown thinning involves removing some of the tree's upper branches in order to increase the amount of light that reaches the tree's trunk and lower branches. This method has the potential to increase fruit yield while also lowering the prevalence of the disease.
    8. After you are finished with the tree pruning, you should clean up by removing all of the debris from around the base of the tree.

    Can Olive Trees Be Cut Back Hard?

    Olive trees are remarkably resistant to having their branches severely pruned. However, severe pruning is often required to revive an old, neglected, or injured tree, despite the fact that it may appear harsh.

    Always be sure to keep enough of the tree's foliage so that it may continue photosynthesising and developing normally, but if necessary, anywhere from 50 to 75 per cent of the tree can be cut down without risking its health. However, be warned that severe pruning will provoke a response from the tree by producing a great deal of dense new growth.

    Use less pressure when working with olive trees that are growing in containers. Olive trees grown in containers require only light pruning to keep their shape and height, as well as to assure a continuous supply of fruiting wood that is one year old.

    Conclusion

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is the recommended pruning technique for olive trees?

    The recommended pruning technique for olive trees is the open vase or open canopy method. This involves removing the central leader (main trunk) and promoting the growth of three to five primary branches that radiate outward from the trunk. These primary branches should be evenly spaced and free from crossing or rubbing against each other. Remove any vertical branches, as they do not contribute to fruit production and can reduce light penetration and air circulation.

    Can I prune an olive tree to encourage more fruit production?

    Yes, you can prune an olive tree to encourage more fruit production. By removing unproductive branches and maintaining an open canopy, you can promote better light penetration and air circulation, which are essential for fruit development. Additionally, thinning out the tree's canopy can reduce competition for resources and promote the growth of strong, healthy branches that can support abundant fruit production.

    Is it possible to rejuvenate an old, unproductive olive tree through pruning?

    Yes, it is possible to rejuvenate an old, unproductive olive tree through careful pruning. First, assess the tree's overall health and vigour. Remove dead, diseased, or damaged branches, as well as any branches that are crossing or rubbing against each other. Gradually thin out the canopy and promote the growth of strong, healthy branches. This process may take several years, but with proper care and patience, an old olive tree can be revitalized and brought back to productive fruit-bearing.

    Can olive trees be pruned to control their size?

    Yes, olive trees can be pruned to control their size and maintain a desired shape. Regular pruning can keep the tree at a manageable height and width, which is particularly important for trees grown in small gardens or residential landscapes. When pruning to control the size, always remove branches back to a healthy lateral branch or bud to encourage new growth and maintain a balanced structure.

    What is the recommended pruning technique for olive trees?

    The recommended pruning technique for olive trees is the open vase or open canopy method. This involves removing the central leader (main trunk) and promoting the growth of three to five primary branches that radiate outward from the trunk. These primary branches should be evenly spaced and free from crossing or rubbing against each other. Remove any vertical branches, as they do not contribute to fruit production and can reduce light penetration and air circulation.

    Scroll to Top