Jeff Doubet shares how planting large olive trees in your Spanish-style garden landscape will provide instant gratification. See how large specimen olive trees were craned in to a Montecito, CA property.
Transplanting these large olive trees was accomplished at the same time a small fixer home was being remodeled into a Spanish-style cottage.
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Step inside this photo shoot to see how this local Montecito, CA arborist team and a landscape contractor were able to place large olive trees in very precise locations. Here, a huge crane arrives. It would be used to lift and move the heavy trees into place.
One of the two large olive trees was transported to the site by a large landscaping truck.
Direct links to Spanish home and landscape product recommendations and installations.
Prep Work for Planting Large Olive Trees
This post provides a wide variety of photos, tips and tricks for planting large olive trees. As you will see… planting large specimens is not a weekend warrior project.
Here, the crane operator set up his stabilizers, as the local Montecito landscape contractor meets with the project arborist.
Here, one of the large olive trees is being hoisted out of the landscape truck.
For months I had been looking forward to this day. I had sketched a couple of large olive trees into a small Spanish-style cottage and landscape design rendering.
Today I was there to pinpoint their exact locations. With a half a dozen guys and a crane operator waiting for me to make my final decisions… I got precise, and placed rocks where they should go.
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Photos Planting Large Olive Trees
This is a sequence of beautiful photographs that document how large olive trees are transplanted.
Here, the guys direct the crane operator to a location where the tree will be temporarily positioned. This allows the landscape contractor to measure the root ball and get the crew to dig the hole to the proper depth.
The local Montecito arborist’s installation team are well seasoned in planting large olive trees. Here, they get to work digging the first hole for the massive tree install.
It’s a sweaty job, so the strong young men take turns working the shovel. The landscape contractor double checks the height dimension of the root ball.
I’ve always admired him as a hard worker, hustler and a just do it kind of guy. He literally gets in the trenches and squares up the sides of the first hole.
Large Olive Trees in Spanish-style Landscapes
Here, the olive tree is temporarily lowered into place to see if the hole size is adequate. Ancient olive trees are perfect for Spanish-style landscapes.
The way the twisted and knotty base supports the multi-branch canopy, and how they make a project feel.
In this photo, the second olive tree arrives on a flatbed trailer. These trees were purchased from the Montecito based arborist with a local yard of large specimen trees for sale. Transport was only a couple of miles, so not much prep was required for moving them.
When large olive trees are ordered from Northern California, they are wrapped with large tarps to protect them during transport. Here, the second olive tree is slowly moved by crane. The landscape contractor stabilizes from spinning around.
In this photo a beautiful Santa Barbara sandstone wall is being hand built by local stone masons. The break in the wall will become sandstone steps leading up to the upper yard.
Here the team works on getting the second hole ready for the second olive tree. In this photo you can see the shrink wrapped root ball.
Here’s a shot of one of the landscape crew tamping down dirt, packing it around the root ball so as to not have any air pockets in the install.
How much does it cost to plant large olive trees?
$5,000 is the estimate for the project you see in these images. Trees, crew and crane all part of what will be required to complete an installation like this.
Your investment installing mature olive trees will include the cost of the trees and transporting them to the site. Renting a large crane most likely will be required to lift the trees off the flatbed trailer and position them into their final resting place.
There will be many other factors that will determine your final costs will be for a similar project. Soil type, protecting existing landscape infrastructure (hardscapes, underground utilities, moving irrigation lines, etc.).
If you are local in the Santa Barbara or Montecito, California area – I can help you with recommendations for the various independent teams that are knowledgeable in all of this.