Pruning Olive Trees
Why prune? Pruning encourages light and air into the center of your olive plant, helping prevent pests and diseases.
When to prune? In order to maintain a manageable size and regulate production, you should prune your olive plant in early spring.
NOTE: This is part 8 in a series of 11 articles. For a complete background on how to grow olive trees, we recommend starting from the beginning.
Pruning Tips
- Olive trees will usually bear on the previous year’s growth but keep in mind that they never bear fruit in the same place twice. Therefore, you should carefully prune to avoid alternate bearing.
- If you prefer a single trunk shape, prune suckers and only branches that are growing below the point where branching is desired.
- If you prefer a gnarled effect of several trunks, stake out basal suckers and lower branches at the desired angle.
