Home & Garden

Olive Trees: Everything You Need to Know About Growing Them

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5. Olives are not tasty off the tree.

Above: Photograph by Sarah Lonsdale, from DIY: Home Cured Olives.

Ever tasted a fresh olive? If you have, then I’m so sorry. Fresh, raw olives are surprisingly very bitter and need to be fermented, cured in a vinegar or salt water brine, or dry-cured with oil in order to be delicious.

6. Olive trees are slow-growing.

Above: An olive tree stars in a Texas pebble garden. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista, from Genius Garden Ideas: 10 Landscapes with Olive Trees.

When a tree, like an olive, is slow-growing then it pays to buy the largest one you can afford to avoid frustration and disappointment. I usually recommend nothing smaller than a 15-gallon tree.

7. …and slow to fruit, too.

On average, an olive may take four to five years before it fruits. This production is also dependent on whether the growing conditions are warm and sunny enough. If these requirements aren’t met, then fruiting might not occur at all.

8. Olive trees need proper pruning.

Above: Photograph courtesy of Art Luna Garden, from A Mediterranean Idyll on the Pacific Palisades.

Italians say that you should prune the olive tree in such a way that a bird can fly through the middle of it. Pruning is needed to reduce the density of the foliage and allow sunlight to infiltrate every part of the tree. Also, olive trees produce fruit on the previous year’s branches, so in order to have fruit every year you must make sure that adequate growth occurs every year. In general, prune fruiting olives after harvest. If you are growing a non-fruiting olive, proper pruning is still strongly encourage to avoid a gangly or lopsided tree; plus it’s always a good idea to remove dead, diseased, or damaged limbs. This can be done in the spring or early summer. Pro tip: watch out for snacking deer who also like to “prune” young olive trees. You may need to net the lower branches or spray a deer repellent on newly planted trees.

9. Olive trees can be a houseplant.

Above: *Olea europaea* ‘Arbequina’ is a Spanish olive tree that makes a great indoor specimen. Photograph via Terrain.

Looking to add a little Mediterranean style to your home decor? A potted olive tree might be the addition you need—for a little while at least. Long-term these trees are best grown outside. But a potted olive can thrive for a year or so indoors as long as you make sure it gets lots of light—a south-facing window or under a skylight works. Maintenance-wise, water your indoor olive when the top inch of soil is dry to the touch. If you see leaves yellowing and dropping, then either it is receiving not enough or too much water. Use cacti/palm soil for good drainage, as soggy soil can be detrimental. Pest-wise, be on the lookout for scale invading leaves and stems. Pro tip: An early scale invasion can be handled by simply picking off the critters.

10. Olive trees are considered sacred.

Above: Photograph by Chelsea Fuss, from Olive Branches: Rethinking an Underappreciated Symbol of Peace.

Amazingly, almost all parts of an olive tree have significance. The trees themselves symbolize wisdom, peace, power, fertility, and purity. The branches symbolize peace and abundance and were once ritualistically offered to deities and powerful people as signs of purification and blessings. And olive oil has long been considered sacred and is still used today in many religious ceremonies.

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