Olive Tree Guide

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General Care Instructions
Olives are evergreen trees, growing (slowly!) to 9 - 12m tall, with a spread of 7-9m at 100 years. The fruits may be gathered while they are still green, or when they are fully ripe and have turned black.
Olives grow well in sub-tropical and temperate areas with an optimum temperature range of 5-25°C. They need long, hot summers for the fruits to ripen fully, followed by winter temperatures that are low enough to meet the chilling requirement of the specific cultivar. Although mature trees are remarkably frost tolerant, down to -12°C, young olive plants are not fully hardy. So to be completely safe container grown plants can be placed outdoors in the summer and brought into a cold greenhouse or conservatory for winter protection.

Hot, dry winds and cool, wet weather during the flowering period reduce fruit set. In temperate areas olives are usually grown as ornamental trees in warm gardens, but seldom flower or fruit unless in areas with prolonged sunshine and heat.

OLIVE TREES FOR SALE

The Olive tree symbolises the essence of the Mediterranean landscape. It is an elegant, evergreen tree which makes an excellent specimen plant for a sunny courtyard in a terracotta pot or planted in a Mediterranean style garden.

If you are bold enough, there is nothing quite like your own olive grove, under planted with lavender to stimulate the imagination.

East of Eden Plants is proud to be part of the local gardeners and growers community.

Contact us for advice on ordering your olive trees

See our large plant pots for olives, and other architectural plants.

Pots and compost
Olives grow and fruit well in terracotta pots. They are best grown in well drained pots with loam-based compost, such as John Innes No 3 adding grit for good drainage, and crock at the base of the pot. Raise pots on feet for free drainage in wet seasons. It is recommended to start off with smaller pots, gradually repotting until you reach the largest size. If your plants get too large to move there are some great pot movers now on the market.

Site and Planting

Olives are happy in a wide range of soils, although low to medium fertility is preferable. Soils that are very fertile are likely to result in excessive vegetative growth. We find that the establishing of newly planted olives is enhanced by the use of a Mediterranean mycorrhizal mix, such as ‘Friendly Fungi' produced by Rootgrow. The use of a soil conditioner, e.g. Rootgrow ROOTFOOD humate also helps provides good results. Both products are particularly helpful to prevent the compost in pot planted olives from going sour.

The site must be well drained. Olives grow well on alkaline soils, including those with a high level of salts, provided that the pH level does not exceed 8.5. Windbreaks should be used in exposed areas.

The usual planting distance varies from 7m to 12m each way, depending on the habit of the cultivar; all olives should be staked to avoid wind damage. Closely planted trees may be thinned by re-moving alternate trees when the canopies begin to overlap.

Routine care
Top-dress with slow release fertiliser, or any general fertiliser with medium to high levels of nitrogen, at a yearly rate of about 0.5-kg per tree, applied in two or three doses when the trees are in active growth. Applications of potassium and, possibly, boron supplements may be necessary on some soils. Apply a liquid feed every three to four weeks. Re-apply a soil conditioner every 12 months to produce optimum growth and fruiting.

Watering
Water olives regularly during dry periods, particularly for the first two to three years after planting. Mulching with organic material is also beneficial. Keep the planting area free of weeds.

Pruning and Training
Prune newly planted olives by re-moving the leading shoot when it is about 1.5m tall; select 3 to 5 strong laterals to provide the basic branch structure. Subsequent pruning consists of removing older branches to encourage the growth of new shoots, since fruits are produced on one-year-old wood mostly at the edges of the tree canopy
Fruit thinning may be necessary, if the trees show signs of biennial bearing. Thinning is generally done by hand, but applications of a spray containing phytohormones 4-18 days after flowering may also be effective.

Flowering and Fruiting
Olives produce a very insignificant cream flower. To flower and fruit successfully olives need at least two months of temperatures below 10°C in winter. However for best results avoid prolonged cold weather below 7.5°C or winter temperatures above 15.5°C as both can prevent successful fruit production.
Most cultivars are self-fertile, but pollinators may be necessary to increase fruit yield in cooler climates. Olives are pollinated by insects and also by wind; high humidity levels inhibit pollination.

Pests and Diseases
Olives grown in the open may be affected by various types of scale insect and root-knot nematodes . Olive diseases include Verticillium wilt. Trees grown under cover may be affected by whiteflies, thrips, and red spider mites. Growing under cover, rooted cuttings or budded plants should be grown either in prepared beds or in containers no smaller than 30-35cm in diameter.

New growth
Picture taken Plymouth 7.2.2005

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