Olive limbs dying (withering)

[Mike Corazzi]

This maybe a real loss. I've had this lil tree since it was a volunteer stick probably 20 years ago.
Now it is having problems. The limbs are dessicating. Leaves turn brown or wither or just drop off.

This is fairly recent. The limbs shed leaves til the leaves are only at the very end and then they die and drop.

This is a pic from 2016.


This is it today.



The lower limbs have been progressively drying and dying.
I've chopped off behind the ratty parts and had varying appearance of cut stub.



Some years back I carved the trunk a bit and wish I hadn't. I'm concerned that it is interrupting the sap flow that could cause the present problem



These are some limbs I cut off yesterday.



Have no idea what to do at this point. I'd REALLY hate to lose this guy.

Did a crappy virt to have some idea HOW bad it would look completely stubbed back to the trunk.



Skinny, gawky thing. Way too tall appearing. Any ideas short of trashing it?



Those couple of water shoots are just a "hope" that they could....maybe...... bark up and save something.

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

Sorry, but this looks pretty close.

Botryosphaeria Blight / Olive / Agriculture: Pest Management Guidelines / UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM)

www2.ipm.ucanr.edu

Seems like it is pretty hard to control with fungicides, but I have had good luck controlling diseases that the standard horticultural industry says can’t be controlled by using all the fungicides that have activity on the disease more frequently than makes economic sense for the normies.