Olive Tree Hard Pruning
The general rule of thumb a green one we hope is to prune olive trees once a year though they can be left for two years if there is a shortage of labor.
Olive tree hard pruning. Branches growing straight up especially those near the top that are thin and weak should. The best time to begin pruning is when winter lets up when spring starts and the likelihood of frost and freezing winds are over. How to prune olive trees. Step 1 wait until the winter months when the fruitless olive tree is dormant and has dropped all of its leaves.
Pruning an olive tree prune off suckers as they rob the canopy of water and nutrients. After planting remove all side branches within 3 feet of the ground. Maintaining your olive with annual pruning 1. My preferred pruning shears for pruning olive trees i suggest using heavy duty hand pruners.
Olive tree pruning is always a challenge. Observe your tree at picking time. Open pruning also increases the surface fruiting area of the tree. Remove dead damaged or crossing branches.
Prune olive trees in the spring when the weather is dry. In most cases olive trees can take hard pruning. Even the small stems are quite strong and flexible which make them even harder to prune. When it is time to shape the tree remember that it is better to make a few well placed cuts than to make many small ones.
However that does not mean that you can cut off all the foliage or most of the foliage from branches and expect them to recover. Trimming these olive trees is similar to pruning fruit bearing olive trees except there is no trimming or shaping to increase bud development or fruit harvest. Open center or vase pruning is very common with olive trees. Cutting during wet weather encourages disease.
For thicker branches a 1 2 inch or more i would recommend bypass loppers they will make the hard work easier. Pruning is an important part of caring for an olive tree. Once your tree is bearing fruit you will notice that its main lateral branches. Branches may be removed entirely to allow in more.
For this type of pruning you remove the tree s central branches to allow sunlight to penetrate the tree. If the tree is overgrown reduce the main leaders by about a quarter. The olive fruit grows on one year old wood so it is desirable to leave 10 to 18 inches of new shoots for fruit production. You should use a lopper and a pruning saw to make these cuts.
Pruning is not difficult but there are a few rules to follow for good results.