Since it is currently pruning season for many garden and potted plants, you may be wondering whether you should cut your olive tree. Since pruning is always done in spring (just with varying degrees of intensity depending on the plants), the answer is “yes”. However, it is important that you avoid some mistakes that some inexperienced home gardeners make even though they want to prune their olive tree correctly. What cutting errors in the olive tree do we mean?
How exactly you proceed with spring pruning depends, among other things, on how you imagine the tree to look. We go through everything step by step, focusing particularly on the mistakes to avoid.
Prune olive trees correctly: Don't choose the wrong time
Some people choose autumn,before overwinteringto give the tree a pruning. But the correct time is spring and more precisely the period before the Mediterranean plant begins to bloom. If you made this pruning mistake on the olive tree, you would simply miss the flowering period.
Are you now a little afraid of missing exactly this moment? Don't worry, because:
- First you have to winterize the olive tree.
- As long as the plant has not yet understood that winter is over and the warm season is beginning, no flower buds will grow.
(We will explain to you step by step how to winterize the olive tree soon in another post.)
So when do you prune olive trees?
As soon as the acclimatization to the outdoor conditions is complete after the winter, you can get started. The flowering period begins in either April or May, which depends, among other things, on the time of hibernation but also on the conditions in the winter quarters.
A notice:If smaller cutting measures need to be carried out over the course of the year, that's no problem at all. Sick or dry branches and even healthy ones that are disturbing can also be removed at other times without affecting growth.
Pruning errors on the olive tree: Pruning too sparingly
What is needed is a cut back. But before you radically cut your olive tree, you should be clear about what shape you want for your olive tree. You can actually form a crown so that the olive actually looks like a tree.
But wouldn't such a radical cut also affect fruit production? Under normal circumstances, yes. However, the probability that your tree will produce fruit in Germany is rather low anyway, so you don't have to worry about it. Nevertheless, we will explain both cut variants to you:
Don't forget to care before shaping!
Before you start shaping, you should first carry out the maintenance cuts. But it can be radical here! How should you cut the olive tree correctly and what exactly is cut?
- Everything that is sick or dead can go
Because it doesn't do anything for the plant, it just disturbs it. Some people shy away from one or two branches because they have actually contributed to the beautiful crown look so far, and leave them on the tree. A mistake that you should avoid from now on, because it will definitely no longer make the crown look nice and you will also prevent the tree from sprouting many new, strong branches in place of the dead or diseased branches. This will make the crown even more lush.
- Prune unnecessary branches properly
Don't just remove the visibly diseased or dead part, make the cut where the living, healthy wood is. Sometimes this is not always apparent from the outside. Then just work your way little by little until you finally get the cut right. You can tell by the fresh inside of the branch.
- Remove annoying tree branches
Look at the crown. If you notice that branches are crossing each other, you can shorten them. To do this, trim both of them or remove a little more from just one of them. You have to estimate this yourself, because you should like the crown of the tree afterwards. Once you have completed this cutting step, you can move on to shaping.
Cut the olive tree correctly: the shape cut for a round crown
The actual radical cut occurs when you cut the olive tree into shape. Many people find this too bad, which is also a common pruning mistake when it comes to olive trees. Believe us when we say you won't regret it! The missing cut would actually be the greater evil.
Another reason why many people don't dare to do topiary is that they can't imagine the end result and are afraid of making incorrect cuts. But you can avoid this by gradually working your way forward:
- Inside the crown you already have some thicker branches that have formed a kind of basic structure. One of these is the leading instinct that comes from the trunk. You don't need to pay attention to this at first.
- Instead, cut the thinner shoots back to this framework first. The bare look really doesn't need to scare you!
- Around 7 of the scaffold branches should still be standing at the end, although you should preferably leave vertical ones here. All of the other so-called main shoots can also be removed.
- Shorten the remaining main shoots and aim for a spherical shape. You can trim them up to half, but no more.
- What remains is the leading drive mentioned at the beginning, which is now probably quite out of line with its length. Cut it at the level of the main shoots.
- As long as you don't cut everything down to the trunk, you can't go wrong. So be brave, because the plant is very tolerant of cutting.
- If you feel like you have accidentally created a hole inside, we can also reassure you. Soon you won't be able to see any of this anymore, because the tree will grow many, many shoots and leaves.
- Some new shoots will grow faster and longer than others and will cause the tree to become out of shape again. In the summer you can do a little touch-up if you want.
You might also be interested in:Propagating olive trees via seeds or cuttings for beginners
Never use the wrong tools!
Also very important if you want to prune the olive tree correctly: Don't make the mistake of using wrong or dirty tools! The scissors you use should:
- Be sharp so that it does not crush when cut and cause cracks into which pathogens can penetrate.
- correspond to the thickness of the twigs and branches to be cut. A thick branch is not cut with the same scissors as young shoots. Then cuts are inevitable.
- be disinfected! Another important point that is often underestimated. After all, you don’t want to transmit germs.
Don't forget to fertilize after cutting!
Although not a cutting error in the olive tree, it is still part of it:fertilizing after pruning. After the long winter rest and now that the olive tree is supposed to sprout vigorously, it needs a lot of strength. So think about nutrient supply at the beginning of the season.
Also read:Planting blueberries: When and how to grow them correctly for a bountiful harvest!
