Looking sad olive trees

kev van · May 2022

Hello, I have four similar looking sad olive trees and need some advice on what's best.

I've just got some Vitax olive tree fertiliser have taken a cm of soil off the top and was gonna put back more with some fertiliser and bit of bark, being careful not to touch the tree. I've just got them back after they were left at my parents home when I moved. That's my idea what would you guys advise?

Dovefromabove · May 2022

@tui34 grows olives …..

While we’re waiting for Tui to i appear, I suspect that they’ve been thirsty. I wouldn’t feed them yet. Just ensure they get plenty of water, but that it drains out well so the roots don’t sit in soggy soil.

What sort of compost are they in?

Valley Gardener · May 2022

I had an Olive tree when we lived in Spain,it was a sad looking little thing with hardly any compost in its pot at a Garden Centre,but I felt sorry for it and got it for knockdown price. I bought a really big ceramic pot for it,and it grew into a lovely tree,bearing fruit.
I think if I were you I would invest in a much bigger pot and they do like water despite them coming from sunny climes. So exciting to get the first Olives.

philippasmith2 · May 2022

Difficult to see from the photos as to how large the containers actually are. How long have they been in there without any feeding/topping up ? What is the actual root system like ? Congested ? Cold. wind, not enough watering ? Are all the branches alive ( again difficult to tell from the photos) . Look a wee bit scrawny but again, without a better pic, not easy to tell.
Sometimes it is better to remove and ( if the root ball still fits the container ), put new medium in the bottom of the pot rather than just mulching the top.
The basic European Olive is reasonably hardy in the UK but your location will obviously have a bearing on it's health and growth. If you've had them for years and still remain in the area, you should be OK.

kev van · May 2022

Dovefromabove said:

@tui34 grows olives …..

While we’re waiting for Tui to i appear, I suspect that they’ve been thirsty. I wouldn’t feed them yet. Just ensure they get plenty of water, but that it drains out well so the roots don’t sit in soggy soil.

What sort of compost are they in?

Thanks for the reply Dovefromabove, they are all in top soil. Soil feels damp.

Valley Gardener · May 2022

The man in the GC,pruned out masses of little whippy branches too,leaving just the strong ones. The one on the left could probably lose those bottom ones,and it would be worth a look at how to prune. It looked to me liked the rule of thumb was to just keep the stronger branches.

Valley Gardener · May 2022

I just had a look,and You Tube show you how. You definitely have too many,time for the secateurs😊

tui34 · May 2022

Evening @kev van

Two sad looking trees all right? But aren't they your trees? Just like your trees? Or two of your four trees that look like this?

How old are your trees? The trees should be on the move now with lots of new growth - but these trees are spindly looking. The advice given here is excellent - water with good drainage @Dovefromabove . They're probably okay in their planters, but the ground is a better situation, or bigger pots/tubs.

A prune would be good, but not until around February March next year (in the UK). Clear away spindly branches in the middle.

Repotting into a bigger pot could be a good move - as @philippasmith2 points out. They look like trees that have been too long in the same pot.

Could we have photos of your trees and not something that looks similar, please?

Looking sad olive trees

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