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My olive tree is losing all its leaves

aallan11235t-TNHamfaallan11235t-TNHamf Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi.  
I'm a relative novice as a gardener and recently my olive trees have lost all their leaves.  I have done my homework and they are supposed to be evergreen so I'm unsure what I'm doing wrong.  I believe they are healthy enough (besides losing their leaves because their trunks and height have continued to grow year over year.  Hoping to get any advice from this community. Cheers and thank you.

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    If they lose all their leaves, they are probably dead. It has been a very cold winter and that could well be the cause.
    If they are till like the picture, they will recover.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Check carefully along the bare stems for any signs of new buds (they are slightly olive-green in colour, tiny leaflets clasping the stem). If they are there, your plant will recover--just give it plenty of time. It's just been an exceptionally cold winter, and olives are a Mediterranean plant. Leaf drop is a response to cold shock.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited May 2023
    I have found that Olives drop their leaves readily.  Summer drought, winter drought, frost. Continuously even.

    Scrape the stems with your thumbnail; if it still shows green, youtr olive is OK.  

    You could reduce the head considerably to ease the work the roots have to do.  The stems will reshoot quickly.  I needed to do this to my pot standard last spring when I thought watering was unnecessary.  I haven't logged how much time it took to recover, but not much.
     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."
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Finding green when scraping the stems, does not mean everything is ok. It just means the plant is not totally dead. It is a much misused test of wellbeing.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
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