Mme poivre Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I have just been given an olive tree for a present can anyone give me any clues on how to look after it - what sort of soil etc best place to plant as i really dont have a clue Judith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Well, it grows all over the 'Med' areas, so there must be a good variety of acid / alkali soils around. Here, it's very alkali, and ours which was planted 3 yrs ago has flourished. Full sun is fine.Usual rules I guess: decent pit for the root ball, some good compost in the bottom, flooded, heeled-in, well-watered up. Keep watering in the early stages.After that, prune back the top growth if you want it to bush out. They're very slow growing of course, so it takes time. Having said that, remember that when you're a bit older than you are now, it'll still be in it's first flush of youth: accordingly think carefully about where you plant it. Give it space. Once established, it shouldn't need any regular watering, though the occasional drench wouldn't do any harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 How big is it? Have you considered putting it in a pot?I have seen some lovely specimins 2 metres or more tall in great big terracotta pots. They look wonderful and seem to thrive wellThe only downside is that the ones I've seen are the thick end of €1000 [:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukhostland Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 We bought our (French) Olive tree in the UK. It spent a few seasons in a pot in our Bedfordshire vegetable / fruit garden with spells in an unheated greenhouse during the worst weather.When we moved to France last September we re-imported it and over that first hard winter in central France (36210) it suffered somewhat.Late in the spring it came back into growth and I have now planted it in the ground in a sunny spot surrounded by Med-style planting. It will be saver in the ground with the soil to protect the roots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 If you house here is a holiday home then it could well suffer in a pot? It will get VERY dry in the summer and as UK said the roots will be vunerable to frost in the winter.I haven't gone past the first few pages but this may help http://www.biomatnet.org/publications/1859cu.pdfIf you google 'olive tree cultivation' there is a load of info there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baypond Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 does anyone know if they should all bear fruit? we have a sizeable tree at our house(2.5 metres), which looks great but doesn't have any olives. Am I being dumb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Yeah you should get fruit and it will be cropping nicely after only 2 or 3 hundred years or so [:P] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Âme Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 There is 1 olive on our olivier. [:D] (It's quite young; the trunk is about 3cm diameter, planted in garden 2 years ago) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Pierre, if I have told you once I have told you several million times in the past 2 seconds, don't exagerate!Our larger olivier gave us a lot of olives, luques, last year but very little has shown this year. Luques are the top of the olives and we love them!! Miam, miam!The smaller, about 6 foot tall has yeilded nothing yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebiga Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 We have ours in a pot and its gone through 4 winters and summers in Loire Atlantique with just a bit of water in summer. We had -12 last winter and the pot is plastic and had no ill effects. But as everyone said very slow growing and in a pot would be even slower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme poivre Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Thanks for all the replys a little food for thought there.It will have to be be left in the garden in france because our car is not yet fixed we will be travelling light going home as we will have to leave car at port this side and pick up another the the other side. It will hopefully be ok it already has quite a few olives on it so i have hopes for the future.thanks againJudith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Have you ever tried an olive straight off of the tree? If not it is an experience that you should not miss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baypond Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 All you ever need to know about olive tree cultivationhttp://www.biomatnet.org/publications/1859cu.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 [quote user="Jonzjob"]Have you ever tried an olive straight off of the tree? If not it is an experience that you should not miss![/quote]I've just found an olive on our tree. Does anyone think that I need to bother with a net and/or to warn the neighbouring Mill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Oh ye of little faith G. Don't you know the expression that says "Great aches from little oakorns grow". If you have one this year then you well get 2 next year! After that the sky is the limit and maybe even as high as 4 or 5 in the following years [8-|]!Salt it well and you could have a lovely surprise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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