An evergreen tree of 10 to 13 feet, bearing small edible fruits that ripen black or in shades of green, pressed for oil or prepared for the table. The olive (Olea europaea) asks for one thing above all: full sun and ground that is never waterlogged. Meet that, and it can live over a thousand years.
| Name | Olea europea or europaea |
|---|---|
| Family | Oleaceae |
| Type | fruit tree |
| Height | 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 m) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | well-drained, chalky, dry |
| Foliage | evergreen |
| Harvest | early autumn to early winter |
Caring, pruning and watering all take a part in letting olive trees grow well.
Planting an olive tree, both in the ground and in pots, requires great care and attention. A well-planted tree will have stronger growth.
Choose a sun-bathed area, which is never waterlogged.
Also try to shelter olive trees from strong winds, especially if you aren’t in Mediterranean climates.
As for soil, ensure that it is very well drained.
Mix sand into your soil and cover the bottom of the hole with small rocks to ensure that water never sits near the roots.
Growing olive trees in pots is perfectly possible as they adapt well.
Pruning olive trees is recommended yearly at the end of the winter / beginning of spring.
Olive trees prefer light pruning to severe pruning. But if you must drastically reduce branches, do so in fall if freezing is rare in your area, and in spring elsewhere.
Moreover, never prune your olive tree in winter, before or during a freezing spell, since this could kill your trees. If you prune your trees in fall or autumn, they will grow new buds that will be very vulnerable to frost and freezing. Olive trees pruned in fall or winter might freeze.
A good tip to remember which branches to cut is ICU for Inwards – Crossing – Upwards. As in, “I see you, ICU!”
After pruning, if you’re suspicious that fungus may have infected leaves, burn the leaves.
Add olive tree fertilizer to get a magnificent olive tree with abundant harvests.
Olive trees are biennial fruiting trees, meaning that the harvest is bountiful one year and meager the next. Pruning yearly helps even out production.
Among the hardy olive cultivars, here are the most common: ‘aglandau’, ‘amellau’, ‘frangivento’ and ‘olivère’.
Among the productive varieties used for olive oil, here are the main ones in alphabetical order: ‘aglandau’, ‘amillau’, ‘araban’, ‘amygdalolia’, ‘Bouteillan’, ‘cayet rouge’, ‘calletier’, ‘cayon’, ‘frangivento’, ‘colombale’, ‘corniale’, ‘grossanne’, ‘lucques’, ‘manzanille’, ‘moufla’, ‘négrette’, ‘noirette’, ‘pardiguier’, ‘pointue de l’Ardèche’, ‘poumal rougette of Ardèche’, ‘reyne’, ‘tanche’, ‘verdale’ or ‘zinzala’ (incomplete list).
Finally, if you wish to only plant one tree, the most common self-pollinating varieties are ‘aglandau’, ‘amygdalolia’, ‘frangivento’, ‘cayon’, ‘grossanne’, or ‘poumal rougette of Ardèche’.
Interesting Italian olive tree cultivars are the ‘Ascolana’, ‘Frantoio’ (also called ‘Oblonga’), ‘Dolce Agogia’, ‘Manzanilla’ and ‘Leccino’.
A Spanish olive tree cultivar that has spread throughout the world is the famous and hardy ‘Arbequina’. Arbequina olive trees were originally bred and grown in Catalonia, in Spain. Other Spanish olive tree varieties inclure ‘Sevillano’
Tunisian cultivars are also interesting, like the ‘Chemlali’.
Newer South American olive varieties include the ‘Arauco’ (Argentina), ‘Criolla’ (Peru) and ‘Azapa’ (Chile).
Israel also is home to some olive varieties, like the ‘Barnea’.
For growing olive trees in pots, choose the ‘Amygdalolia’ variety, which naturally grows to smaller sizes.
The article lists cultivars by country and by purpose. This table gathers the ones named, so you can see at a glance where each comes from and what it is chosen for.
| Variety | Origin | Chosen for |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Aglandau’ | France | Hardy, used for oil, and self-pollinating |
| ‘Amygdalolia’ | France (self-pollinating list) | Pot growing, as it naturally stays smaller |
| ‘Arbequina’ | Catalonia, Spain | Hardy, and now grown throughout the world |
| ‘Frantoio’ (also ‘Oblonga’) | Italy | One of the interesting Italian cultivars |
| ‘Chemlali’ | Tunisia | A Tunisian cultivar worth trying |
| ‘Arauco’ | Argentina | One of the newer South American varieties |
| ‘Barnea’ | Israel | An Israeli olive variety |
If only one tree will fit, pick from the self-pollinating group so that fruit set does not depend on a neighbour.
The olive tree resists diseases very well, and they rarely are fatal. Nonetheless, some parasites are common and it is worth treating them so as to not weaken the olive tree.
In recent years, a bacterial disease called Olive Quick Decline Syndrome has spread to Europe. Tree leaves dry out and the tree dies within a few years. The bacteria that causes this is Xylella fastidiosa.
Olive trees are enchanting, merely mentioning their name brings in mind images of Provence and of the Mediterranean.
This tree has a lifespan that extends over a thousand years. It is typical of Mediterranean regions, but it can be found already in more temperate climates. For example, growers are already planting it along the Atlantic coast.
Some succeed in growing it in the North, as long as it is well-endowed with sunlight and sheltered from excessive moisture. Olive trees will survive temperatures colder than 23°F (-5°C) if properly hardened. Cold is even necessary for olive production.
Its edible fruits are olives. They’re most often black or in shades of green. The closer the growing conditions are to their native environment, the more abundant the harvest.
Olives can be eaten raw, though they are better when they are prepared. Take note! Raw olives very bitter and the fact that they look like sweet grapes is deceiving! They are often pressed to produce olive oil which is famous for all the health benefits of olives on health!
In rather temperate climates and in cases of strong frost spells, cover your olive tree with horticultural fleece to protect it from the cold!
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