Problem with olive tree
By Mrsmacca
West Midlands,
United Kingdom 
I planted an olive tree (an established one from a garden centre) which was about 4 ft tall. During the first winter (wet and mild) it shed most of its leaves. It has shed more this year. Two thirds of the tree is now completely bare, although there is new growth. Will the leaves ever come back? Will pruning help?
5 Apr, 2009
Previous question
I would only prune the dead wood from the stems. If there is new growth then the tree is starting to recover. All trees, even evergreens shed leaves but we have had a bad winter for plants like olives so they may have taken a bit of a hit, but if it is producing new growth it sounds like it should be ok. If you need to reshape the tree, then do by all means give it a light prune up to a leaf node and the new growth will shoot from there
15 Apr, 2009