Olive Trees

[toffeeman]

I bought a couple of small olive trees 3-4 years ago from a magazine type offer (can't remember details) and they've done nothing. Still alive but not a sign of an olive. There about 18" high. A couple of years ago bought another from Morrisons and the soil in the pot looked very heavy but it had fruit. Once I got hold of it there's been no sign of an olive. Help!

[Belinda]

There's an article on Olive trees in the June KG magazine, page 52. Lots of possible reasons why Olives don't always do well in the UK, welll worth a read.

[alan refail]

Olives are S Mediterranean trees. I can see no point in trying to grow them in the UK - at least not until global warming turns S Europe into an arm of the Sahara. Probably people selling olive trees are cashing in on people looking for something new - take the money and run. When vines outside in your area have produced grapes to make wine for a couple of decades - then try olives. Until then forget them.

Alan

[longpod]

I live in S/W France have an Olive Tree which is about eight years old and four or five feet tall, facing South, protected by a wall, and I don't have any olives either. I believe the olives appear on a more mature plant than mine, or that is my understanding. So take heart enjoy your plants, and wait for the first virgin press!!
jeanne

[sally wright]

Dear Toffeman,
We have an olive at work which is growing in a sheltered courtyard and is around 15 foot high and very healthy. It occasionally has olives but they are usually very small and not worth much. The varieties normally grown in this country are the hardy ones grown primarily for their foliage and not the fruiting kinds one sees around the med and other places.
Regards Sally Wright.

[alan refail]

For more info - especially the age when olives bear fruit see
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Olea+europaea

Alan

[toffeeman]

Surely if they think they can do it in Anglesey I can do it in Surrey!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/6595309.stm

[alan refail]

Notice how long they expect to wait before a crop

Alan

[Colin_M]

I've got an olive tree thats around 3 years old. We had several olives on it last year (though not enough to press ).

It's in a south facing border, next to a wall, so pretty sheltered. Its around 6 feet high and thriving.


Colin

[Primrose]

Well, even if you get any olives it's quite a tricky business processing them. A few years ago we returned from a holiday in a farmhouse in Portugal with bagfuls of them, freshly picked. Because I wanted to try processing some olives from his trees, the owner gave me instructions for processing them. Despite following his instruction to the letter they all went black and rotten. I subsequently discovered there are some tiny little weevils that get inside the fruit, and if the olive is damaged in this way it won't preserve properly. Next time I'll just buy them in jars!

[Colin_M]

I'm just happy to have it growing in my garden, as it's a very attractive tree.

It's next to my vines and, though I try to use the grapes to make wine on a good year, most of the time I rely on bought stuff


Colin

[Primrose]

I have an acquaintance who lives in Sardinia who has a great number olive trees and hedges surrounding her huge plot. Her olive trees produce large numbers of fruit but they are very small and almost invariably attacked by pests and damaged, so her dreams of producing a fruitful olive oil harvest were very soon dashed. I suspect that in this country, olives may be one fruit where the anticipation of a rich harvest is in one's dreams, rather than in reality.

[mazmezroz]

My olive tree is in a pot, in a South facing position against a warm wall. I have had it for 3 years. I have it for curiosity, not olives, and don't expect to get any - any fruits will be an unexpected bonus. Having said that, my Greek neighbour grew two olives in his front garden, and I don't know if speaking to them in Greek made a big difference, but he got quite a good harvest from his!!!! Maybe it was the variety. Or the kalya nichta, every night!!

[carole]

I live on the wet coastof cumbria and I have two olive trees, also bought from a magazine.I get fruit every year !! I keep them against a south facing wall and when the weatherturns,I put them in my porch.It seems to work for my lemons too as I have many large specimens ready to pick too.