# Olive Groves and Orchards



## ianthy (Apr 15, 2012)

Hi - I am interested in planting olive and fruit trees = total 100 max. Can anyone recommend a small crew that could help with the planting. We are based near to Bologna. 

Thanks 

Ianthy


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Ask your neighbors. I'm sure somebody local will be willing to take the day work.


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## rpizzica (Aug 10, 2011)

Free coffee? That's It? Good luck with that


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## italy (Aug 21, 2009)

our neighbors planted around 100 olive trees last year.... he adapted an approach which seemed practical although some might say extreme.. basically it was on quite a slope... good for olives because it faces the sun and is well drained .. first we cleared the land of crub and trees mainly by hand and chain saw.. he then got a son in law in with a huge digger and he went over the land sifting digging and burying until he ended up with basically the equivalent of a double dug area... which he left a few months to settle and then we hand dug planting holes.. put in bare root trees and stakes and after three years apart from a couple that got broken by snow they all seem to be growing and this year should produce a few olives.. anyway my thought is that there are a huge amount of small diggers in circulation here so either find a neighbour with one or hire one.. to dig over the land where you want to plant.. make the holes and then just back-fill....olives and indeed all trees appreciate a well dug surrounding earth to get their roots into and it should pay dividends allowing the tree to spread roots easily and also help with drainage and water .. as breaking the ground up will also allow rain water in so summer dryness is not a problem.. i would always try to plant in autumn if you do not have a handy water supply as it allows trees to establish themselves over the dormant cold period so by spring they should be able to fend for themselves a lot more easily.. needless to say a good stake is almost as important as the plant itself


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