For more in-depth information, we recommend the books from
Riccardo Gucci and Claudio Cantini, Louise Ferguson and G.
Steven Sibbett, and from Paul Vossen, listed in our Sources
below. Before going into details, let us start by saying that
when it comes to pruning young trees, the less the better.
Pruning, while it must be sufficient to direct the tree’s
growth, should be kept at a minimum. There are two training
objectives during the first three years of olive orchard
development. The first is to develop a strong, well-spaced
framework of uncongested scaffold branches to support heavy
crops and to facilitate shaker attachment for mechanical
harvest. The second is to bring the new olive trees into bearing
as soon as possible. Olive trees store most of their energy in
their leaves, and unlike deciduous trees, do not show much
response to pruning. Pruning that removes large amounts of
foliage can stunt olive trees just like summer pruning which
removes leaves on a deciduous tree. The removal of too many
leaves