Help - Just impulse bought a 5 foot olive tree!

[Wonderfulcheapfalafel]

Just taken delivery of an olive tree, it's a bit over 5 ft tall. I have not really planned for this, it just seemed like a good deal so I bought it.

I will probably keep it in a container for the time being as will need to decide where it belongs in the garden (still redesigning but have a kind of mediterranean theme so it should fit in nicely) .. Should I repot now or wait till next year? There are a few roots coming out of the bottom of it's current pot, but presumably it will be dormant now for a while?

If re-potting, how big a pot? Any tips on type of compost, position etc? It's in a kind of ball on top of a stem/trunk at the moment, I think I'd like it to be a bit looser/multi stemmed rather than ball shaped. Should I prune it now or let it selttle in and worry about that at another time??

I'm new to trees and espceially trees in pots!

It sounds like it will be lovely! I find that olive trees are surprisingly tough, although in my experience they are happier planted in the ground rather than in pots, in the long run.

If you don't want it clipped into a pom-pom shape (I'm the same!), let it grow and prune in about May or June each year. Aim for a wine glass shape, so you remove branches pointing into the middle. I think the idea is to have a fairly open structure that allows light and air in.

thanks @FlowersOfSulphur I will leave my secaturs where they are for now!

Do you think I should repot it now or wait until spring?

I think wait until Spring to repot it. I don't think they're particularly fussy re compost. They do like plenty of sunshine - but I used to have one in my east-facing garden which only got the morning sun and it grew beautifully (although never produced any flowers or olives, but I didn't mind that as the flowers are fairly insignificant). Make sure it has good drainage ie don't plant it somewhere that is prone to waterlogged.

I have two olive trees in big pots; had them over 10 years now & they do fine. So if you don't want to plant it in the ground it will by ok. If you want to keep it in a pot go for the biggest pot you can manage; a good free draining compost as they are Mediterranean so used to gritty, sandy soils. Put somewhere with as much sun as possible.
You can buy specific olive tree food - we do it occasionally but they are fine without. We do get flowers & baby olives, but they don't go much further than that.