Can anyone help with this query?
We have a row of mature olive trees on the road side of our row of 3 terraced houses in Auckland, N Z .
They are probably 23 years old now and were lightly pruned in the past but lately have been allowed to grow up unhindered. We would like to see them more dense and bushy, with no worry about losing some of the height and our neighbor would like to take them right back, in some cases, to a point where there may be no, or little foliage on the tree.
Obviously even if they do shoot again and eventually thicken up, it is going to take some time. My question to you, is this, is it better to leave, say, 1/3 of the canopy at the first prune, then prune again, say, a year later, or will the trees indeed withstand this drastic treatment and come away quite quickly?
Hope you can help me, I'm outnumbered here!!
Liz Hessell