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Stressed Olive

Hello! This olive was moved... In June.... Bare root... And put in a clay soil... without properly filling in the hole...and leaving a cavern underneath it.  So there's no mystery as to why the tree nearly died.
We replanted it ourselves a couple of days later into a large hole with a topsoil-compost mix.
Is it still alive as it has green stem/branches still?
Is there some hope that leaves will grow next spring?
Can I remove the dead leaves without causing more damage?
Am I supposed to trim or prune it to improve its chances? 
I would like to put Jasmin next to it and train it through the unsightly branches. Would that work as a permanent fixture or should I keep it in a pot as a temporary cosmetic solution.

Thank you!
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  • I think you may need to decide which you want to grow and thrive - the Olive or the Jasmine.
    You can obviously clean the Olive of the dead leaves - dead so no use and you can follow each stem/branch down until you come to live wood and cut back accordingly. 
    It's a shame you chose some of the worst weather to re plant the tree but presumably you had little option.  Copious water during the dry spells will help but it is not really possible to tell from your pics whether or not the tree will survive.  
    I guess you'll find out next year.  Best of luck.
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    I agree @philippasmith2   Olive trees are known to come "back to life" after a couple of years.  Prune it back, water it and wait.  Stuff the Jasmine!

    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    It looks dead to me, sorry to say.

    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • Thanks all! It does indeed look quite dead, but let's see if I rename it as Lazarus next spring.
    The reason I'm thinking the jasmine as a bit of makeup is cos it's the front garden. If it was just me seeing it I'd leave it tbh. It wouldn't do any harm would it? I'll see how it looks after a tidy up :)
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I wouldn't tidy it up at all yet.  Water it, apologise for mistreatment and keep it waterd till autumn.  prune it only when you see where new growth appears in spring.

    I wouldn't try and grow a jasmine through it as a well grown olive is attractive in itself and could be swamped by a jasmine.   There are two kinds - see links below - and the former requires moist but well-drained soil and isn't compatible with the need sof an olive tree whereas the latter needs a sheltered spot to do well.

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/11735/olea-europaea-(f)/details

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/9454/i-jasminum-officinale-i/details

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/18287/trachelospermum-jasminoides/details



    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Yes difficult to tell at this stage,  unfortunately there may still be sap in branches and trunk keeping the bark green for a long time even though the roots are dead. I agree with previous posts, water well, wait till spring to  see if new growth appears before doinganything else .
    AB Still learning

  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited August 2022
    I have a mop-head standard olive in a pot.  This dry spring I didn't think I needed to water it and all the leaves died.  It's what olives do in a drought.  I cut it hard back to a denser mop-shape, and it is now all leafy and a much better shape plant.
    Don't water a plant without leaves too much, or you WILL kill the roots.   But let's hope it will soon recover.  Soon means well before the spring.
    My recommendationa are the opposite of others you have received. So you have judgements to make.
    Forget the jasmine idea for now.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • I hope there's enough drainage to prevent yesterday's rain from overwatering it! I'll keep hoping and apologising :) 
    There's definitely consensus against the Jasmine! I don't quite see the reason why though. It would be in a pot, removed in early spring. Is that enough time to swamp/prevent new growth? I believe it's the trachelospermum type. 
  • bédé said:
     It's what olives do in a drought.  I cut it hard back to a denser mop-shape, and it is now all leafy and a much better shape plant.

    I'm quite tempted to cut back the branches that are clearly deceased. I'll examine it closely over the weekend and decide...
  • P.S. Dangermousie and PenfoldGW are from the same garden ;)
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