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Olive tree lost all leaves

andy85m1yhyaXiAQandy85m1yhyaXiAQ Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Our lovely big olive has lost all leaves over the harsh winter. Not a clue what to do. 

Any help much appreciated !! 

Posts

  • andy85m1yhyaXiAQandy85m1yhyaXiAQ Posts: 2

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I think the only thing you can do is wait and see what happens over the next few weeks.
    It's likely frosts have caused the leaves to drop. Your tree may still be alive, or it may not. So let's hope it's the former.

    It would be a good idea to leave some space around the base of the trunk.
    Other plants growing so close will compete for water/nutrients, and the humid conditions that will arise may cause fungal damage to the trunk.

    Give it 4 weeks or so and see what happens.
    If there's still no sign of growth, you can try the fingernail test.
    Starting toward the top of the tree scrape the bark with your fingernail to remove the top skin.
    If you can see green, then it's still alive.
    If you see no green, that part is dead.
    Work your way down the tree until you see some green.
    You may need a knife to scrape the skin on the main trunk, so just remove a tiny bit so as not to cause dmamge.
    If there's no green under the bark anywhere, I'm afraid its a gonner.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    It looks as if your olive has had a drastic prune by the thickness of the two big branches which have been cut out. This has caused a lot of thin new growth last year and it is the thin new twigs which have died back. Wait a month or two before giving up on your tree as it will probably make more new growth.
    The last 12 months weather has hit a lot of plants very hard, be patient and give it some time to recover.
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Hello!

    What a shame that the two outer large branches have been cut.  These would have been the ones to keep and then prune the middle to let the air through.  I would take this opportunity of having a bare tree to prune it in the middle and level up the top.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited March 2023
    tui34 said:
    Hello!

    What a shame that the two outer large branches have been cut.  These would have been the ones to keep and then prune the middle to let the air through.  I would take this opportunity of having a bare tree to prune it in the middle and level up the top.
    As Joyce says, it has been lopped just above the fork, and the smaller branches are the resulting regrowth. 

    OP, are you positive it is an olive tree?
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I have had a look at the trunk of my olive tree and I think the tree in the pic. might possibly be a willow of some kind as it does not look anything like my olive tree's trunk. Nor is the growth pattern anything like my olive tree.
    andy have you had any olives set on your tree yet? It should have set fruit in previous years from the size of the tree. The leaves of olives and willows are not dissimilar.
    andy85m1yhyaXiAQ said:


  • AsarumAsarum Posts: 661
    Could it be Elaeagnus angustifolia, one of it’s common names is Russian Olive. 
    I see the label is still on it.
    East Anglia
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    If it is Elaeagnus angustifolia as @Asarum says, that would explain the leaf drop over winter as it is deciduous.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I'm glad it's not just me... to me it also looks more like a willow.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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