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<pre>Dear Olive Friends - I've written to the group previously and would like to
thank you for your help. I'm asking for your input once again.

A friend and I are proposing (to the owner of the grove) to restore olive
production of an old stand of Picholine trees in the Napa Valley. We believe
the trees were planted around 100 years ago and know, from the owner, that
they have not been maintained in any way for at least 40 years. Currently the
trees are 10-13 meters high, and are not bearing any olives.

Neither my friend or I have worked with olives previously. However, after
reading (Stan Kalis and Brian Chatterton) about old grove restoration for
practical hand harvesting, we pruned 2 "demonstration" trees for the owner.
We removed all suckers and inner branches, and trying to get a vase shape,
left 3 or 4 outer branches, which we cut off at about 3 meters. This
removed all branches with leaves. We expect to get vegetative growth next
year, and flowers and fruit in two years.

Here's the rub. An influential friend of the owner has told the owner. "On
general principle, I am discouraging "flat-topping" the olive trees they
want to work with. There is no horticultural need to prune them that way;
more importantly, it is bad to prune out more than 25% of the growth @ any
given time." The person who made the statement works a lot with plants and
trees, but as far as I know has no direct experience with olives. My
question to all of you is: Are her concerns valid, and is there a better way
to restore these old trees.

Thanks,

Alan Friedman
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<pre>Alan

The influential friend is speaking nonsense I think. How ever could we
practice coppicing (cutting the olive tree down at ground level every 10
years or so) if we followed that advice? Can I suggest you purchase a copy
of Pruning and Training Systems for Modern Olive Growing, Gucci & Cantini,
CSIRO Publishing, Aust. You can order by emailing sales@publish.csiro.au
They also have a good website www.publish.csiro.au

The publication has many references/pictures describing what you have done.
Good luck.

Regards
Peter Caird
www.victorianolivegroves.com
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<pre>Alan

I wouldn't go so far as to say your friend is talking nonsense, but she does
seem to be rather dogmatic.

I imagine that trees left unattended for 40 years are not going to be
restored quite so easily. I don't know the particular growth habit of
Picholine, but extreme pruning in olives always promotes extreme sprouting
of dormant buds from all over the show, which can be a handful to control.

A more important consideration would be sunburn. If you totally remove the
canopy, especially just before or during summer, you will invite a major
incidence of sunburn, which can destroy the bark on the upper surfaces of
the newly exposed limbs. You will then have to live with these sunburned
scaffolds, as they do not recover. The bark eventually just peels right off,
and the upper section of the wood dies. It is a major problem here, and will
probably be likewise in the Napa.

It may even be better to cut down alternate trees just above ground level,
to form fresh trees, staggering the alternation in adjacent rows. The
remainder can be pruned less severly, maintaining some canopy (as per your
friend's influential friend - your enemy?), leaving them with a chance of
early bearing (due to less crowding and increased vigour). Once the newly
formed trees have developed for a few years, you can coppice the rest.

If you do want to be drastic with all the trees together, it may be better
to cut them down at about waist to shoulder height, about two or three feet
after branching. Here the bark is usually still rough and corky, and quite
resistant to sunburn. It's the smooth bark that burns easily. The advantage
of this method is that it forms a stronger tree. Sometimes the limbs
developed from coppiced trees (of some cultivars) tend to snap off in high
winds.

You will have to follow up regularly in any event. And treat all large
exposed cuts with a pruning sealer.

Good luck.

GC




.........An influential friend of the owner has told the owner. "On
> general principle, I am discouraging "flat-topping" the olive trees they
> want to work with. There is no horticultural need to prune them that way;
> more importantly, it is bad to prune out more than 25% of the growth @ any
> given time." The person who made the statement works a lot with plants
and
> trees, but as far as I know has no direct experience with olives. My
> question to all of you is: Are her concerns valid, and is there a better
way
> to restore these old trees.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Alan Friedman
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