Olive Tree Heavy Pruning
Remove dead damaged or crossing branches.
Olive tree heavy pruning. Examine each of the branches closely. If the tree is overgrown reduce the main leaders by about a quarter. Pruning shears are used to cut shoots less than 1 inch 25mm in diameter. 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.
A number of tools can be used to prune olive trees. Pruning is not difficult but there are a few rules to follow for good results. Wait until the winter months when the fruitless olive tree is dormant and has dropped all of its leaves. Olive treesare extremely resilient and they are able to withstand heavy pruning with no damage whatsoever to their health.
Open center or vase pruning is very common with olive trees. For this type of pruning you remove the tree s central branches to allow sunlight to penetrate the tree. Cut until you reach the main stems which is easy because the small branches on the inside are mostly dead and with a thin layer of leaves because they had no sunlight. Double bladed shears are more suitable than single bladed shears for cutting flexible shoots.
The reason people prune hard in fall is to take off a lot of fruiting wood so it doesn t make a mess especially on pavement. Remove any branches that are crossing another branch or growing downward. Olive trees should be open and airy. Remove any dead wood you can find you may need to use a tree saw for larger branches.
If your tree is too dense with vertical. Pruning involves trimming off some branches completely and cutting others back and when done properly the result is a better harvest of olive fruit and a healthier tree. Open pruning also increases the surface fruiting area of the tree. Fruit only grows on lateral branches so another reason to prune these vertical branches is to give your tree more.
Trimming fruitless olive trees step 1. How to prune olive trees. Left unpruned they tend to get gnarled and twisted. Pruning an olive tree prune off suckers as they rob the canopy of water and nutrients.
Branches may be removed entirely to allow in more. You can buy pruning tools at the olive oil source wholesale store. Pruning that removes large amounts of foliage can stunt olive trees just like summer pruning which removes leaves on a deciduous tree. The removal of too many leaves and shoots can drastically reduce the availability of assimilates in young plants with small photosynthetic area.
In fact these trees are customarily heavily pruned. Look down near the base of the fruitless olive tree trunk and follow it upward to locate any suckers. Start your olive tree pruning by cutting your way through the bushy leaves inside the tree s structure. A rule of thumb is that a bird should be able to fly through your olive tree.