Pruning olive trees
Whilst an olive tree can live quite happily with little pruning, there are benefits if done correctly. Pruning olive trees can help grow an abundance of juicy olives or simply keep your olive tree in good shape.
When to prune your olive tree
If you’ve just bought a young olive tree then you’ll have to be patient and keep the shears in the shed for now. This is because pruning your olive tree shouldn’t happen during its first or second year. Leaves are the main source of food, so having lots of leaves when the tree is young provides energy for growth. Pruning olive trees is best between winter’s end and flowering. This is ideally spring or early summer when it’s milder and the tree begins to open its flower buds. If needed, in late spring or early summer, remove the dead or dying branches. You can thin out branches to allow light into the centre of the tree, removing any that affect the shape. Try not to over prune as this can cause the over production of non fruiting water shoots (less olives!).
Tools for pruning olive trees
There lots of tools that can be used for pruning olive trees such as pruning shears, saws and chain saws. Pruning shears are best used to cut shoots less than 1 inch, whereas double-bladed shears are more suitable than single-bladed shears for cutting flexible shoots. The hand saw is the most practical tool to cut shoots and branches up to 3 inches. This is generally used in the internal part of the canopy where the tree is most dense. Saws can have either rigid or folding blades but the best results are with a rigid blade of at least 15 inches.
How to prune your olive tree
Begin pruning at the base of the olive tree removing any suckers or water shoots, cutting as close to the base as possible. These shoots divert strength from the main tree so are best removed. The next section is the crown – this is the densest part of the tree. Stand at the trunk and look up through the canopy, you should be able to see sunlight between the tree’s limbs. If not, remove some of the branches using a pruning saw. If your tree is in a container, you can control the height of the tree by removing the tallest branches. There are many tree shapes that are used around the world, some of which are shown below.
- 1)The two-branch shape, which is common in Andalucia
- 2) The candlestick shape used in Tunisia.
- 3)The double or triple trunk shape used in Seville.
- 4)The multi-conical shape, in which every branch has the shape of a cone, found in some regions in Italy.
- 5)The spherical cup shape seen in France, Italy and Greece.
- 6)The spherical shape, which is not so common because it does not give ample light to the whole tree.
- 7)The short cylindrical shape.
- 8) The non-trunk shape seen in Tunisia.
- 9)The free palmate.
- Pruning olive trees takes a little consideration, but it will reward you in years to come.
Take a look at our wide range of olives trees we have in stock.
