Branches may be removed entirely to allow in more air and light.

Best practices: prune olive trees in spring or in early summer after the tree begins to open its flower buds. (TIP: Pruning an olive tree while it’s blooming allows you to assess the probable crop before you trim.) Shaping the tree – Beginning with its fourth year after planting, prune your olive tree.

Aug 20, When to Prune Olive Trees. First of all, whenever pruning an olive tree (for whatever purpose and with whatever goal) it is important to choose the right time for the job. Typically, you will prune an olive tree between late spring and the end of summer. It is important not to prune your olive during the winter, as this can make the tree more.

Wait until spring arrives. You can also prune in the summer if you want, but not both seasons.

Don’t wait until fall, as that’s when olive trees get ready for harvesting olives. You’re too late at that point. While some trees do grow quickly and need lots of consistent pruning, olive trees aren’t one of them.

They’re gradual growers.

Because olive trees grow slowly, pruning once a year is more than enough.

Summer Pruning. Summer pruning is usually done when the olive trees are actively growing and is generally limited to the elimination of water sprouts and suckers. The early summer pruning will not influence the growth of your plant, but will definitely affect the quality of the fruit in the growing season. You can prune olive trees in spring or in early summer once the tree begins to open its flower buds.

When you observed your tree at picking time, these are the old branches that maybe bore fruit at one time, but they have stopped.

Pruning an olive tree while it is in bloom allows you to assess the probable crop before you trim. Can you hard prune an olive tree? It is best, however, to prune your Olive after the last of the winter frost and before the first autumn frosts. Olive trees can be pruned in spring or summer, but pruning an olive tree during bloom allows an assessment of the potential crop before cuts are made.

It is important to wait until winter rains have passed; pruning cuts are potential entry points for diseases spread by water. This is especially critical in areas where olive knot is prevalent.