Looks pretty normal for an olive tree. By all means train it over like you want as much as possible. Training is preferable to pruning if you want early yield and max tree size.

Maybe you should pinch the branches on the short side. This will force them to bud out more. I pinch mine regularly, and they do exactly as told.

I have no fear of pruning Olives! They want to grow! Is it lopsided because one side is shadier? Plants tend to lean towards the sun, but you knew that!

We have two olives, but almost every ranch here does, so pollination is not an issue. Ours were started from cuttings I grabbed from trees fruiting at a golf course we played. I know the size of these babies, but no idea what kind they are. All I know is that they are huge, and really tasty brined with garlic/lemon/herbs.

We recently dug up our two baby trees and moved them to our new property. On drip systems, and they show no shock! They are shallow rooted, so pretty easy to move. Because we cut the roots, we also pruned the tops seriously back. They were about 6' tall, and now they are 4', but they will grow.

Rather than doing a "comb over," I'd try getting that shorter side to wake up and grow. Just my opinion!

Suzi

Thanks for the replies!

Anyone know of any good website/tutorials on pinching, pruning and training?

I'm very much a beginner!

This one came lopsided - I just never noticed it so much until I got it home and in the ground. The spot it's in now gets good sun though isn't as protected from the wind as it should be.