Olea europa
Olive
Oakland, CA
July, 2013
The setting of this Olive is a large enclosed back patio. The architecture of the house and the plant selections are decidedly Mediterranean and there is another, larger Olive just to the left of the picture. In keeping with the feel of the garden in general (and the character of Olives in particular), I wanted a light, airy feel to the tree. An Olive tree pruned to be open is in constant motion.
The clients had picked this tree out themselves and were quite proud and protective of it. However, it was a large 24” box container tree and during the complicated transplanting process a large lower branch was damaged, developing a major crack. This had been covered in wound-seal and wrapped with cloth and tape in the hopes of bettering its chances of healing. When I saw it I told them I would have to remove the branch for the health of the tree, that it would not heal on its own and would always be unsightly. They were wary, as it was the branch that directly faced the sitting area less than five feet away but after some convincing it was removed it immediately looked and felt better and everyone was happy.
I see this Olive once a year. It is pruned in conjunction with a larger Olive, uphill and just to the left of the view of the picture. My long-term goals with this tree are to keep it slightly smaller than the neighboring Olive and train it through directional pruning to spread out and over the sitting area on the paved patio.
The clients had picked this tree out themselves and were quite proud and protective of it. However, it was a large 24” box container tree and during the complicated transplanting process a large lower branch was damaged, developing a major crack. This had been covered in wound-seal and wrapped with cloth and tape in the hopes of bettering its chances of healing. When I saw it I told them I would have to remove the branch for the health of the tree, that it would not heal on its own and would always be unsightly. They were wary, as it was the branch that directly faced the sitting area less than five feet away but after some convincing it was removed it immediately looked and felt better and everyone was happy.
I see this Olive once a year. It is pruned in conjunction with a larger Olive, uphill and just to the left of the view of the picture. My long-term goals with this tree are to keep it slightly smaller than the neighboring Olive and train it through directional pruning to spread out and over the sitting area on the paved patio.