Olive Tree Pruning: When and How to Prune, Step by Step

Olive tree pruning decides how many olives you will pick next year and how good the oil will be. Olive trees bear fruit on the previous year's new shoots, so every wrong cut takes away part of next season's crop. In this guide we explain when to prune olive trees, how to do it step by step and the mistakes we see most often in the olives that reach our mill in Rreth Libofshë, near Fier in Albania.

Why prune olive trees?

An unpruned olive tree grows dense and tall. The inner leaves stay in the shade, branches that get no light set no fruit, and the crop moves to the top of the tree, where it is harder to pick. Regular pruning brings clear benefits:

• More light and air inside the canopy, so more fruiting buds and olives that ripen evenly.
• Fewer diseases. An airy canopy dries quickly after rain, so peacock spot and other fungi spread less.
• A steadier crop. Balanced pruning softens the “on year, off year” alternate bearing typical of olives.
• Easier, cheaper harvesting, because the tree stays at a reachable height.

For the oil, this matters directly: healthy, evenly ripened olives give oil with low acidity and a clean aroma.

When to prune olive trees

The best time for the main pruning is after the harvest, from late winter to early spring. In mild coastal areas such as Fier, Vlora or the Myzeqe plain in Albania, pruning usually starts in February; in hilly or colder areas it is safer to wait until March.

• Avoid frost. Fresh wounds before a hard frost damage the tissue and open the way to disease.
• Never prune in rain or high humidity. The olive knot bacterium enters through wet wounds.
• Do not prune during flowering (usually in May), or you lose the flowers that would become fruit.
• Light summer pruning (June–July) is only for removing suckers and vertical water sprouts, with no large cuts.

Types of pruning

With young trees, don't rush: the fewer cuts in the first years, the sooner the tree starts bearing. Remove only branches that compete with the main scaffold and shoots growing from the base.

How to prune an olive tree, step by step

1. Look at the tree from a distance. Before cutting, decide which 3–4 main branches you will keep and where the canopy needs opening.
2. Remove dead, broken and diseased branches. This is always the first cut.
3. Clean the base. Cut the suckers growing from the roots and the trunk as close as possible to where they emerge.
4. Remove vertical water sprouts growing strongly upwards inside the canopy; they use water and nutrients but give little or no fruit.
5. Open the centre. Remove branches growing inwards, crossing or rubbing against each other, until light reaches the middle of the tree.
6. Lower the height gradually. If the tree is too tall, shorten the high branches back to an outward-growing side branch instead of topping the tree.
7. Make clean cuts. Cut just outside the branch collar, without leaving stubs or tearing the bark.
8. Protect large wounds. Seal cuts thicker than 3–4 cm with pruning sealant.
9. Spray a copper product after pruning, especially if the grove has had peacock spot or olive knot.

How much should you cut?

The practical rule is no more than 20–25% of the canopy in one year. Cut too much and the tree reacts with a mass of vigorous vertical shoots and gives little fruit the following year. Cut too little and the canopy stays dense, so the problem is only postponed. A moderate pruning every year is better than a heavy one every three years.

On old trees, rejuvenation is done in stages: each year, replace one of the old scaffold branches with a young one, until the whole tree is renewed within 2–3 years.

Tools and hygiene

• Pruning shears for thin shoots, loppers for branches up to 4–5 cm and a pruning saw for thicker wood.
• Keep your tools sharp. A clean cut heals quickly; a torn cut stays open to disease.
• Disinfect with alcohol or diluted bleach when you move from a tree with olive knot to a healthy one.
• Pruned branches can be chipped and used as mulch or compost; take diseased wood out of the grove.

Common olive tree pruning mistakes

• Topping. Cutting all branches back to the same height fills the tree with dense shoots and leaves it without a crop for 1–2 years.
• Heavy pruning once every few years instead of light pruning every year.
• Stubs. Pieces left on the branches dry out and rot, carrying disease into the wood.
• Pruning in the rain or just before a frost.
• Forgetting the suckers, which drain the tree's energy and give nothing back.

Olive tree pruning and oil quality

Pruning works best together with balanced feeding and timely protection from pests. A well-pruned tree makes better use of fertilizer, so read our guides to olive tree fertilizer and to olive tree diseases and pests. Then comes the harvest: when and how to pick is explained in when to harvest olives for better oil.

Frequently asked questions

When should olive trees be pruned in Mediterranean climates?

In mild coastal areas the main pruning is usually done from late February to March, after the risk of hard frost has passed and before new growth starts.

Should olive trees be pruned every year?

Yes. Light pruning every year, or at least every two years, keeps the tree in balance. Rare, heavy pruning disrupts the crop.

Can olive trees be pruned in autumn?

It is not recommended. Autumn wounds stay open through the wet winter, when the risk of olive knot and peacock spot is highest.

What can I do with an old olive tree that no longer bears fruit?

Rejuvenate it in stages: each year, replace one old branch with a strong young shoot. Within 2–3 years the tree bears again without losing a whole season.

Growing olives in the Fier area? The Shkrela mill in Rreth Libofshë buys whole olives and olive oil from local growers. See how much oil 100 kg of olives give or contact us for the season's terms.