Olive Tree Guide

OLIVE TREE GUIDE
 
(Olea Europaea)

Do your olive trees bear edible fruit?
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Guidance for Olive trees

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
Olive trees 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. Olive trees 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 such as Maxicrop Plus 5-5-5. Re-apply a soil conditioner such as Maxicrop Original Seaweed Extract 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 such as Maxicrop Original Seaweed Extract 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.

If you have difficulty getting your olive tree to set fruit, you may have a single 'general' olive tree that is self-fertile, but not coping with the British weather. Add a good-sized cross-pollinating cultivar from us that is suited to the UK climate. Ask for the 'Frantoia' cultivar. While this does not guarantee success, it is your best chance. Olive trees in the Shop

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.

Still fruiting
Picture taken Plymouth
January 2009

We have heard much 'on the grape vine' about people producing olives in the south of the UK that they can eat. We know of a commercial venture growing olives in Devon.

There is no doubt that olive trees survive well in the UK. Even in Greece, Italy, Spain, etc. olives in the mountains have to cope with frost and snowy conditions in the winter.

We supply olive trees all over the UK, (although we do not guarantee their survival unless we plant them), they are commonly grown and are a favourite feature in our designs. They regularly produce small, ornamental fruit but they are not as good to eat as the Mediterranean grown ones we love so much.

So, edible olives grown in Britain? How far spread in our country is this phenomenon? Do you pick your olives? Even if you have produced just one that you ate (and liked) we would love to know.

We are producing a national picture of all olive fruit production in the UK, especially including gardens. Use our form to let us know and we will publish the map of our findings.

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Olive tree survey form

Fill in the form with your olive tree - and your olives - story.

How many olives do you get?
What are you doing with them?

GREAT BRITISH OLIVE TREE SURVEY - FORM

Adrian's potted olive tree in Edinburgh

Edinburgh - and loving it

Adrian says-

I bought it about 3 years ago. The tree has spent its life in a yard alongside a big house, meaning that it seldom goes lower than -1C. Equally in summer it can get much more intense heat than if it was out in the garden proper. It does get very windy in the yard, but I don't protect it from the wind.

Last year I moved it into a bigger pot, using ordinary high grade general purpose potting compost. After that it became fuller and bushier, and set fruits early on. (The year before it had fruited but only very small ones, quite late in the season).

Being enclosed in a yard the tree gets much less sunshine than if it was in the open. It will get, at best, a third of a day of direct sunshine.

I have let it stress in tune with the ambient weather, only intervening when parching was likely to set in. It didn't seem to mind this at all - it has certainly not been cossetted and kept at an even moisture level day to day.

Growing strong - Olives in Edinburgh EH16. Picture 16.3.2009

Is this the best, most northerly fruiting olive tree in Britain?

- or do you know better?

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How to make tea from olive leaves Boil two quarts of water, then place 10g of olive leaves (alone or mixed with other herbs/teas) in an infuser or directly into the boiling water. Immediately reduce the heat to a high simmer and allow the tea to brew for about 15 minutes. Stir the tea occasionally, then strain to drink and/or refrigerate. The tea should be a medium amber colour with a slightly bitter taste. To combat a specific ailment, sip the refrigerated or reheated tea and consume the entire two quarts over the course of three days.

Olive leaves: anti-bacterial? A cancer-cure? Full article

UK Olive Tree Growing Guide
- download

In a Staffordshire Garden

Roy says-

The tree was purchased in Shrewsbury about 4 years ago.

I get plenty of flowers and a few fruit, about 20. The tree was about 2 metres high, but I have just pruned it.

The olives are very salty and bitter. The olive tree is planted near a fence in dry clay soil, between the house and the pond so it is quite protected.

Looking for a feed for an olive tree?

We recommend Maxicrop Plus 5-5-5 - little and often!

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