Olive trees- U.k.

[Toilenstripes]

Does anyone have experience of having an outdoor olive tree in England? Preferably grown in a pot? I think they’re beautiful but I don’t want to get one and accidentally kill it.

I have one, so does my MIL.

They were both bought maybe two years ago, potted.

MIL lovingly watered and tended to hers, it’s still in its pot now looking really lovely.

I, forgot about mine and it went rather crispy and lost nearly all its leaves.

I planted it in the garden not expecting it to pull through and while it still looks rather rubbish compared to MILs thriving tree it has regrown lots of leaves and is putting on fresh new growth and is perfectly happy.

I think in another year or so when it’s filled out a bit more it’ll look really great.

May I ask how big they were when you bought them? I don’t want anything too small, or too large for that matter. I hope yours continues to do well.

I have had one for 5 and a half years. I live in the south east. Find the European variety that is semi hardy, otherwise it doesnt stand a chance in the winter.

I have planted mine in a very large wooden tub, which is in full sun all day, and it is thriving. I keep it trimmed to about 9 foot tall. I made sure I planted it in soil that is quite gritty (I recall mixing some sand and gravelly bits in) because they do NOT like to stand in water, you want really free draining soil.

My tree produces little tiny olives but the weather is never hot enough for long enough for them to become edible.

The other trick is to prune it after the first frost. If you prune it too early in spring the new shoots die.

Sorry I meant to say prune it after the last frost!

I have two, in pots in a sunny spot in the garden. No idea what I'm doing but they've survived a few years now, although they're still relatively small.

They are the ‘lollypop’ standard type and I would say roughly 4 - 5 foot clear trunk then a ball of leaves on top.
Tall but not wide.

Eventually I do believe they become quite monstrously sized but that takes hundreds of years I have believe.

I think it depends where you live and the conditions. Mine is planted in a sheltered back garden in London and it’s thriving. It was about a foot tall in a pot when I got it about ten years ago, it’s now about ten feet and gets pruned every year.

Many thanks for the information. I feel better equipped to try my hand. 😁

I've got two in large planters by the front door, in winter I cover the ball bit at the top with one of those plant fleeces from Amazon

I've got one in a pot at the front of the house, moved from the back as it wasn't too well.

It looks better now and I'm just about to repot so will think about the grit

I had imagined harvesting lovely olives but have just got a weedy specimen that hasn't been too loved

I've got one in a pot. It's around 10 years old and doubled in height despite being neglected and rarely watered! Which part of the country are you in? Many gardens have thriving olive trees round here and we're in the south. I'm not sure how they would cope if eg you were in Scotland.

I’m in Oxon, so relatively south. I think I will just a one metre high one and put it in a pot. I’m just anxious because I’ve killed an azalea and a dwarf spruce.

I'm in West Oxon and while it's weedy my olive has survived

I saved some bubble wrap for its first winter but didn't bother just gone

I’m in NI and I’ve had one for about 4 years, I got it when it was heavily reduced because it was looking quite sad. It hasn’t gained a lot of height, which I’m ok with, although it’s trunk is sturdier now than it was and it’s pretty happy in its sunny spot. I added a good bit of gravel when I potted it and I think that has helped it. If mine can survive here where I’ve practically neglected it, bar the odd pruning, you should be fine.

Following this thread as I too am looking at getting an olive tree in a pot. Do they survive being outside at winter with the frost etc? X

I have one in a pot, too. I bought a pot on Ebay, which contained a very feeble little olive tree which the seller hadn't got round to removing and so threw in for free. After repotting in new compost and a few years' TLC it looks pretty good. It produces a few olives but they never reach maturity. It stays outside all year round - we're in a very urban setting so the heat bubble protects it.

If you're thinking of buying an olive tree now, check very carefully where it's come from. Olive trees are susceptible to xylella (a serious plant disease) and imports are being controlled.

As fromIbiza points out, be very careful to only get from a reputable source and check that the plant has plant passport details on the label. Xylella is a devastating disease and could spread to other plants in your garden. No treatment.

Apart from that gloom and doom, olives are ok in the UK. They can cope with frost but do not like being waterlogged. Either grow them in A very free-draining growing medium, or move out of the rain over winter.

Will these thrive in conservatories?

We have olive trees growing on the corners of the street here and outside a lot of the local restaurants and shops in pots (London). I don't think anyone even waters them and they survived the Beast from the East and being used as ashtrays/rubbish bins. Some drunken idiots snapped all the branches off one of the potted ones so it was just a bare 6 foot stick with splits in the bark where the branches had been ripped away. Within a few months it was back to its former glory and you would never know. I think they are pretty indestructible.

That’s good to hear! Although I’m shocked that anyone would vandalise a tree!

I passed a house up here and someone had a small/medium sized twisted olive tree (the one that looks like a lollipop on the top) in a chimney pot plant pot and it looked really good. I live in the north of England wanted one by the front door but we don’t get a lot of sun and I can kill a lot of things well me and or our soil, climate.