Rose and olive bush questions (two questions, not related)

[harpymum]

Now the rain's stopped and it's light I've been able to scout around the garden to find:

a) The olive bush I planted about 6 years ago is flourising, but still no sign of growing any olives.

Does anyone know if it will ever produce olives, and if so, what I should do to make that more likely? Or is this climate too cold? (I live in Cardiff)

b) My climbing rose which was supposed to grow beautifully up a trellis and around the back door is now about 30ft tall, with the promise of roses higher up but bare branches at the bottom. It's planted into a gap in the patio, which is about 3ft wide and 18in deep. Every Spring I put more compost in.

It's this one www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/e/etoile_de_hollande_climber.html - Etoile de Hollande.

Is it too late to rescue, or should I dig it up and get a new one and wait a few more years for it to grow up the trellis?

Or is there a more suitable, easier-to-look-after variety which would be better (i.e. one designed for working mums which I can shove in the ground and almost forget about)?

TIA

Not too sure on the olive question, but any rose will need some care in the form of pruning and training or you'll wind up with flowers 30ft in the air with bare lower stems.

If the plant is basically healthy and you still like it and want to try and renovate it, then you'll need to be brave and hack it hard - have a look at the instructions on this site. The cautious approach is to do some of the stems this year and then have a repeat attack next spring - the "kill or cure" version is to cut the whole lot back to about a foot and keep your fingers crossed. If you want to try, you need to do it soon before the plant starts putting too much effort into new growth that you're about to cut away and you'll probably want to give it a good feed afterwards.

Roses do need a bit of looking after to look their best. If you want lower maintenance, you might want to go for something different.

Good luck

Thanks Tangle...I've gone for kill or cure and will follow the advice on the site you've given.

Now, does anyone know about olive bushes?

Just as an add on, we inherited a climbing rose, the main stem of which is about 1" diameter and none of it had been pruned for about 5 years - it got massacared Mothering Sunday, and is just starting to sprout again. So don't give up all hope if nothing happens for a while! Fingers crossed it makes it

Echo what Tangle said about worth hard pruning roses - we had similar and it has come back beautifully after brutal treatment.

Not sure about this particular variety, but neighbour has a beautiful white climber which flowers in upper branches of a tree but also totally bare till about 8 feet up. May be a characteristic of some climbers?

Hi,
Nothing to say about the roses but we got an Olive tree last year and it actually produced olives in the summer. In fact it still has some attached and is looking hopefull for this summer too.

I wasn't expecting any for a long number of years as someone told me they don't produce olive untill they are very mature... but mine has just shot that idea out the window!

Sorry have no advice on why it's doing well...we just planted it and away it went!

Ours is in the ground and not a pot if that makes any difference...?

Thanks Oydal,

Mine is in the ground too, sheltered spot where it gets lots of sun.

Do you get some sort of blossom before the olives develop?

I'd heard it needed to be mature before producing any too

Mine is in a pot on a sunny balcony and started fruiting a couple of years ago - it's not very mature. Perhaps the constant higher temp of London helps. I tried one and it was absolutely disgusting. Bitter isn't the word! The blackbird loved them though.