Proper Care of Olive Trees?

I'm currently battling my HOA and property manager about the hundreds of olive trees in the complex.

I believe that pruning them back annually is the best remedy for having olive "slip-and-fall" hazards at harvest time. The Association insists that they must SPRAY every other year, then trim in between.

Well, for two straight years they sprayed something toxic on the trees to inhibit blooming. I spent hours and hours covering everything in my yard with plastic, then removing it a few days later.

For those two years, we had a record-breaking crop of olives. The first year (and I don't even have an olive tree in my yard!), I found and tossed several hundred olives. The second year, possibly a thousand or two.

Well, the third, year, they simply trimmed the trees back sharply; I found ONE olive that fall.

I must add that I have a selfish interest in this matter: When the trees are trimmed, my garden receives a bit more sunlight for a few months.

Does anyone out there know the proper method of caring for olive trees? (If I had my way, they'd all be chopped down and replaced with something lower- and slower-growing, without the nuisance factors.)

HI Donna, I think I remember you mentioning this before :?: If I were having this problem I would contact the folks at my local County Extension Service to get information about the trees. Here is a link to your local office. Good luck with this!!