Updated: August 21,

Jul 04, Shearing of Tea Olive can be performed any time of year, however, to avoid damaging new growth that emerges after pruning, I recommend ceasing pruning two months prior to the average first frost date in your area. Heavy pruning to reduce the size or to tree form your Tea Olive should be performed in late winter, while the plant is dormant.

You also want the inside of your martini-glass shape to not be dense with vertical branches, so remove those as well.

A: I’d do it after the spring flowering period. Tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans, blooms on twigs that grew in the last six to nine months.

By pruning in spring, there’s plenty of time for new growth that will perfume the neighborhood in fall. Jan 06, So, for a 6-foot-tall sweet olive, remove the branches on the lower 3 feet of the plant.

We have a wall of olives, more like a bush.

At 6 feet, it won't look like much of a tree, but it's a beginning. As the years go by, you will gradually Estimated Reading Time: 2 mins. Tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans, blooms on twigs that grew in the last six to nine months.

By pruning in spring, there’s plenty of time for new growth that will perfume the neighborhood.