olive trees

**Two_Sheds** · 14-07-2011, 06:56 AM

Could you post a photo? I can't work out what the problem is. You say leggy ~ do you mean bare, or tall?

**ginger ninger** · 14-07-2011, 07:24 AM

If you mean has a lot of new growth on it which is making it look straggly...then yes. I have a small olive tree in a pot, I give it a light prune in Autum. You can use the cuttings as stated in this link, "How to take a cutting from an olive tree". Here's another link "How to look after an olive tree in a container".

Hope you find these helpful. Happy growing.

**binley100** · 14-07-2011, 08:23 PM

my french olive tree cutting finally has a tiny little root started .......

**blossom** · 07-08-2011, 12:12 AM

You can prune olives back really hard. If you just want it to get bushier then trim the ends of all the branches. I have one I have grown into a standard and it looks great. :-)

**shaunbrook** · 28-08-2011, 09:22 PM

Hey Jay have you had much luck with getting edible olives off the tree?

Shaun

**Victoria26** · 04-01-2012, 02:00 PM

My husband was given an Olive tree that had fruited as a gift this year. Its in my sitting room away from direct heat but is loosing leaves and the olives very quickly. Every time i pick it up it showers me with leaves and now its just looking a little sparse and scraggy. Its one of these long stemmed ones, which look like it should be pruned into a standard in the next few years.

The olives are awful tasting so it's being used purely for decoration. I know how to water it and am thinking of potting it up into a bigger container in the hope that this may help it.

Its name is Olea Europaea. Im just wondering whether theres anything I can do to help it.

**frias** · 04-01-2012, 07:50 PM

I don't think there's anything as foul tasting as an unpickled olive.

They are easy to pickle however. Just fill a plastic lemonade or coke bottle with the olives. Add 2 dessert spoons of salt and top up with water. Give a good shake and leave for about 3 months. Actually the timing can vary enormously. Some varieties are ready after 3 weeks and some do take the 3 months. I've got about 100 trees in Spain and my Spanish neighbour tells me the name of each one and how good they are. Can never remember though. Once you get the hang of pickling, lots of herbs etc can be added. Not sure if you will ever get enough olives off a tree in this country though. I have one that grows quite well here and has fruited but not in great number. Mine is outside in a big pot and survives british winters but I am in the south. Pruning in Spain is quite brutal but the growth is also huge. Some of our trees there are over a hundred years old. I don't prune the one here quite so harshly. Olive trees are grafted. My neighbour tells me a cutting will never fruit and they will not grow from stones either.

**veggiechicken** · 04-01-2012, 07:53 PM

My olive tree is also outdoors in Cardiff. I thought last winter's snow would have finished it off but its fine. Thanks for the tip about pickling olives. A very small coke bottle will do for mine!

**frias** · 04-01-2012, 08:11 PM

A teaspoon of salt then! Don't use a water bottle as they blow, fizzy drinks bottles are better. Leave a little room at the top for the olives to swell. When ready to eat cut top off bottle and transfer to a jar. Getting the olives out of a small hole is much harder than putting them in! Spanish neighbour can fill a bottle so quick she won a competition doing it.

**VirginVegGrower** · 04-01-2012, 08:25 PM

Olives are supposed to be put into Brine. They will taste foul and bitter otherwise.

**Victoria26** · 24-02-2012, 12:20 PM

Are they meant to loose all their leaves? mines is about 5 feet tall and the branches are really twiggy. I think its dying!

**stella** · 24-02-2012, 01:17 PM

In Cyprus they crack the olives first before putting them in brine.Tthis is done by the farmers wife sitting in the sun with 2 large stones giving each olive a wack with one stone whilst it is balanced on the other stone.

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