Make room for an olive
With their silvery leaves and gnarled bark olives, Olea europaea are more resilient than you might expect. Olives can be grown outdoors in the UK, where they’ll bring a fabulous Mediterranean flavour and style to your garden!
Ensure you have a warm, sheltered, sunny spot, because olives aren’t fully hardy in the UK. They can generally cope during short periods when temperatures drop to -10C (14F). Younger plants are more susceptible to damage, so may need extra protection.
Olives make fantastic container plants! Use a loam-based compost mix, containing compost, grit and sand, to ensure good drainage. Apply a slow-release, generalpurpose fertiliser during May. Feed your olives from May to August, using a seaweed or high nitrogen liquid fertiliser. Repot every two to three years, moving on to the next size up container.
Olives can be grown for fruit in mild areas, but only outdoors, and will need a natural period of cold before very warm summer temperatures.
When harvesting olives, remember that they need processing by curing before eating, unless you’re producing olive oil.
I’ve seen olives thriving in Scotland, where the container-grown trees were put outside in summer, and overwintered inside in a bright, open, south-facing porch.
‘Standard’ olive trees add sophistication and class to your garden, suiting modern and traditional designs, and provide a rustic, artisan appeal that’s sure to complement and enhance your garden.
Olives don’t need much pruning, but can be made bushier by pinching out shoots. They need good drainage, watering in pots and a touch of slow-release fertiliser early in the season will encourage good health.