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planting Large Olive Trees in a Montecito Ca Landscape Remodel Required a Large Crane to Move Them into Place

Planting Large Olive Trees in a Montecito Spanish Garden

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.

a Heavy Duty Crane is Being Backed into a Driveway at a Spanish style Garden Renovation

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.

a Large Mature Olive Tree Arrives by Truck and is About to Be Craned into Position in a Montecito Ca Landscape Project

One of the two large olive trees was transported to the site by a large landscaping truck.

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.

a Large Red Crane is Being Positioned to Lift a Large Mature Olive Tree from the Back of a Truck at a Landscaping Project in Montecito California

Here, the crane operator set up his stabilizers, as the local Montecito landscape contractor meets with the project arborist.

a Large Big Red Crane Hoists a Mature Olive Tree from a Flat Bed Trailer in Preparation of Positioning It in the Front Yard of a Small Montecito Ca Spanish style Cottage Remodeling Project

Here, one of the large olive trees is being hoisted out of the landscape truck.

a Montecito Landscape Contractor Watches As a Large Crane is Positioned in Preparation of Moving Two Large Mature Olive Trees

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.

an Unofficial Method to Mark the Location of Where a Mature Olive Tree Would Be Planted in a Spanish style Landscape Remodel in Montecito Ca

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.

Photos Planting Large Olive Trees

This is a sequence of beautiful photographs that document how large olive trees are transplanted.

an Arborist Crew and Landscape Contractor Work Together to Position a Large Mature Olive Tree in the Front Yard of a Montecito Ca Home

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.

Strong Young Landscapers Dig a Huge Hole for Transplanting a Mature Olive Tree in the Front Yard of a Spanish style Cottage and Landscape Renovation Project in Montecito Ca

The local Montecito arborist’s installation team get to work digging the first hole for the massive tree install.

a Montecito Landscape Contractor Works at Prepping and Positioning a Large Mature Olive Tree in the Front Yard of a Spanish style Cottage Remodel Project

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.

Landscape Installers in Montecito Ca Prepare a Large Hole for a Mature Olive Tree That Has Arrived

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.

Close Up of a Large Mature Olive Tree That is Being Transplanted into a Montecito Ca Spanish style Garden Renovation

The way the twisted and knotty base supports the multi-branch canopy, and how they make a project feel.

a Large Olive Tree Transported on a Flat Bed Trailer is Delivered to a Montecito California Landscape Project

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.

a Montecito Landscape Contractor Guides a Large Mature Olive Tree Being Hoisted by a Large Crane

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.

a Montecito Ca Landscaping Crew Works to Position a Large Mature Spanish Olive Tree for Transplanting

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.

Landscaping Crew Work to Position a Large Mature Olive Tree in the Front 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.

Planting Large Olive Trees  a Montecito Ca Landscape Crew Installs a Large Mature Olive Tree in the Front Yard of a Spanish style Garden Remodel

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.

an Arborist Team of Landscape Installers Gently Guide a Massive Olive Tree Toward the Position It Will Be Transplanted

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.

Well friend, this wraps another episode in beautiful Montecito, CA. I hope you enjoyed learning how to infuse more Santa Barbara Style into your own Spanish home and landscape design project. Click to see more landscapes on the blog. Scroll to explore more helpful links and resources available to you.

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