How to prune an olive tree

La pruning It is one of the most laborious but also most important jobs that every gardener must do so that their plants have a greater quantity of fruits and better growth and development.

It is, if possible, more necessary when it comes to fruit trees, so let's see step by step how to prune an olive tree, whether it's planted in the garden or in a bonsai tray.

Olive tree in the garden

Olive trees are very ornamental trees. They are very loved in their place of origin -Mediterranean region-, and abroad as well. In fact, here in the Balearic Islands there are those who are dedicated to growing adult specimens, since centenary olive trees can be worth at least 300 euros. And how they are so easy to take care of by being very resistant to drought, there are many of us who choose to have one in the orchard or garden and not another species.

Now, how do you prune? Well, pruning in this case will have a single objective: to get a greater quantity of fruits, that is, olives. Proceed as follows:

• Prune all branches 3 years old or older.
• We will also prune those that are weak or sick, and those that are dry.
• Now, we will zoom out a bit to find out which branches prevent sunlight from reaching all parts of the tree, and we will prune them.

Whenever possible, it is recommended put healing paste, at least on the most important wounds to prevent fungus. For more information on olive tree care, you can consult our article on when to prune an ornamental olive tree.

Olive tree as bonsai

Wild olive or wild olive bonsai

Pruning an olive tree that is being worked as bonsai is a task that requires time and patience. When we have a young tree, the first thing we will do is observe its trunk to see its 'movement' and, depending on this, we will choose the design.

Once we have decided how we are going to work it, we will prune all the branches that stick out and we will cut back those that are too long, letting 4-8 buds grow and pruning 2-4. In this way, we will force the plant to put out leaves further back, so we will obtain an olive tree with a crown that will be much denser. For more information on growing fruit trees, you can visit our article on fruit bonsais.

Pruning is a job that, as we see, can be very useful to us 

Related article:

How to prune a young olive tree in a pot?