Would this be too harsh of a cut?

[isaaquitas]

Hello everyone, I have had this olive for a few years however its foliage has always been quite dispersed and never compact like I want it to be. As shown in the second attachment, could I cut all the branches there to try to make the foliage more compact or should I try something else?

 

[AshleyMammal]

I'm no expert on olives but what experience i do have tells me that olive's respond brilliantly to drastic chops. Timing, early spring would be ideal but now wouldn't be to bad either

 

[isaaquitas]

I'm no expert on olives but what experience i do have tells me that olive's respond brilliantly to drastic chops. Timing, early spring would be ideal but now wouldn't be to bad either

Thanks

 

[TimIAm]

Have you got a plan for what you want it to look like post chop? A chop will bring the foliage in closer, but doesn't automatically provide a solution to an overall design. I also suspect with this tree the leaf size is something you will have to work with.

In the past I've done drastic chops only to have to grow out one of the branches I already chopped once I settled on a design.

Just something to consider.

 

[isaaquitas]

Have you got a plan for what you want it to look like post chop? A chop will bring the foliage in closer, but doesn't automatically provide a solution to an overall design. I also suspect with this tree the leaf size is something you will have to work with.

In the past I've done drastic chops only to have to grow out one of the branches I already chopped once I settled on a design.

Just something to consider.

Thanks, I think my goal is to go for a broom style tree mainly showing the trunk. Do you think the chop would be fine at this time of the year?

 

[TimIAm]

I'm fairly conservative when I suggest what can be done with someone else's tree, so cutting everything back beyond green is not without risk.

This is an olive I collected in mid-October two years ago and it bounced back fine. That would be equivalent of mid-April in Northern hemisphere.

 

[isaaquitas]

I'm fairly conservative when I suggest what can be done with someone else's tree, so cutting everything back beyond green is not without risk.

This is an olive I collected in mid-October two years ago and it bounced back fine. That would be equivalent of mid-April in Northern hemisphere.

View attachment 550609

Thanks