Think of it as Yoga for the brain, we are going to stretch a bit.
Plant Trees you will Never See — Olive Trees
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. -- Some Ancient Greek
Today I planted some trees that I will probably never see grow to full size. Gave one to a dear friend.
I have my own little orchard now. And that, really, is what a lot of life is about.
A lot of the things we do are 20 or 30 years out, and we don’t even realize it at the time. Raising children. Who you marry. The company you build. The house you buy. The life you create.
And as you get older, that starts to become more of a thing. What are you leaving behind?
Are you leaving behind a company? A family? An invention? A book? Something you built? Something you taught somebody?
What is your legacy?
Which brings me back to the olive trees. I planted nine olive trees today.
Supposedly, olive trees are very sturdy and can grow surprisingly well once established. We shall now test just how easily I can kill them.
Hopefully, not very easily. I hope they eventually provide shade for somebody.
I hope the next person who buys my house doesn’t look at them and decide, “Those are in the way,” and cut them all down.
But I don’t know. It could happen.
I hope that 20 years from now some kid sits underneath one of those olive trees and has a thought. Maybe a couple of thoughts.
Maybe somebody reads a book there.
Maybe two kids sit underneath one and talk for hours.
Maybe one of them eventually proposes to the other.
I hope the trees have a history. I hope. But I don’t know.
That’s the strange part about doing something for the future. You don’t get to control what happens afterward.
You just have to plant the seed — or, in this case, the tree — and see what happens.
There is a lot in life like that. Nothing you can do about it.
Anyway, below I’ve included a bunch of information about growing olive trees because, as I’ve discovered, there are a lot of interesting things about them.
You can grow some of them indoors near a sunny door or window. They’re tough. They don’t need huge amounts of water once established. You can prune them heavily. You can even turn one into a bonsai.
I kind of fell in love with them. For one thing, they smell really nice.
And olive trees have this reputation for just enduring. Some can live for hundreds of years, and there are ancient olive trees around the Mediterranean that have outlived generations of people.
There’s something appealing about planting something like that.
So maybe go find an olive tree and plant one.
You may not know what it’s going to look like 20 years from now.
You may not even be the person sitting underneath it. And maybe that’s the point.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Olive Trees but Were Afraid to Ask
There is something different about an olive tree.
Maybe it is because they can live for centuries. Maybe it is because they look ancient even when they are young. Maybe it is because they are tied to food, history, religion, agriculture, and the Mediterranean world.
Or maybe it is just because they are beautiful.
I recently bought a group of young olive trees, most only around two feet tall, and started asking the obvious questions: How fast do they grow? How much water do they need? Can they survive South Florida rain? Can you grow one inside? Can you turn one into a bonsai?
Here is what I learned.
How Big Does an Olive Tree Get?
A full-sized olive tree can eventually reach roughly 20 to 30 feet tall, often with a canopy nearly as wide.
That does not mean you have to let it get that large.
Olive trees respond very well to pruning, so they can be maintained at:
8–12 feet as a landscape tree
6–10 feet as a hedge or screen
2–4 feet as a container tree
much smaller as a bonsai
A young two-foot olive might gain roughly a foot or more per year once established, although growth varies tremendously depending on variety, sunlight, water, soil, and climate.
Olives are not instant shade trees, but they are not painfully slow either.
How Long Before It Produces Olives?
Many olive trees begin producing fruit when they are approximately 3 to 5 years old.
The first harvest might amount to a handful of olives rather than buckets of them.
More substantial production generally comes as the tree reaches 5–8 years old and beyond.
There is an important catch, particularly in South Florida.
Some olive varieties require a certain amount of cool winter weather in order to flower properly. A tree can therefore grow beautifully in a warm climate without necessarily producing a huge crop.
Lower-chill varieties such as Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki are often better choices for warmer areas.
That makes much of South Florida’s naturally sandy ground surprisingly suitable for olives.
One mistake would be digging a giant hole in sandy ground and filling it with rich moisture-retaining soil. You can unintentionally create a bathtub where water collects around the root system.
It is usually better to work primarily with the native soil and improve drainage where necessary.
The Biggest Enemy: Wet Feet
Olive trees are remarkably drought tolerant once established.
Their bigger enemy is too much water.
That doesn’t mean rain hurts them.
It means roots sitting continuously in saturated soil can hurt them.
There is a big difference between:
It rains every afternoon
and
The ground stays waterlogged for three days.
If rain drains rapidly through sandy soil, the olive is usually much happier than if it is planted in a low spot full of rich, wet earth.
What About South Florida Rain?
This was one of my biggest concerns.
During the summer we can get rain almost every day.
You don’t necessarily need to put a roof over an olive tree.
Instead, plant it correctly.
I would plant an olive slightly above the surrounding grade, particularly in a wet climate.
A broad mound perhaps 6–10 inches high can help enormously. Instead of rainwater collecting around the trunk, it drains away from the root zone.
The tree should essentially be sitting on a small Mediterranean-style island.
Then gravel or decorative stone can be placed over the surrounding surface.
Just don’t pile rock or mulch directly against the trunk.
How Do You Know When to Water?
Do not water an olive tree because Tuesday is watering day.
Check the soil.
For a container tree, put your finger approximately an inch or two into the soil.
If it is still damp and cool, don’t water it.
If it is dry, water thoroughly until water drains from the bottom of the pot.
For a newly planted outdoor tree, check a little deeper.
The basic philosophy is:
Water deeply, then allow the soil to begin drying before watering again.
An established olive in sandy South Florida soil may need very little supplemental water during the rainy season.
Do Olive Trees Need Lots of Fertilizer?
No.
This is another case where loving the tree too much can cause problems.
Heavy fertilization, particularly excessive nitrogen, can produce lots of lush green foliage without necessarily improving flowering or fruit production.
Olives evolved to survive in relatively poor soil.
Moderate feeding during the growing season is generally sufficient.
How Much Sun Do They Need?
Lots.
Ideally an olive receives 6–8 hours or more of direct sunlight every day.
Full sun generally produces:
denser growth
stronger branches
better flowering
better fruit production
Olives can survive with somewhat less light, but eventually they may become thin and leggy.
Can You Grow an Olive Under a Terrace?
Possibly.
An open terrace that receives several hours of direct sunlight can actually be an excellent place for one.
The roof even provides some protection from excessive rainfall.
But there is a distinction between a covered outdoor area and a genuinely indoor environment.
An olive living under a bright open terrace may be perfectly happy.
An olive sitting in a dark living room probably will not be.
Can You Grow One Indoors?
You can, within limits.
The best indoor location would be immediately beside a very sunny window, ideally one receiving several hours of direct sunlight.
A glass atrium or sunroom is even better.
Ordinary indoor light is generally not enough for an olive tree over the long term.
If an indoor olive starts developing long, weak branches with widely spaced leaves, it is probably asking for more light.
Can Olive Trees Be Bonsai?
Absolutely.
In fact, olives make fantastic bonsai trees.
They naturally develop exactly the characteristics people want in bonsai:
small leaves
interesting trunks
tolerance of pruning
attractive bark
longevity
the ability to produce new growth after cutting
A mature olive bonsai can look like a thousand-year-old Mediterranean tree shrunk down to two feet tall.
Which Young Tree Should You Pick for Bonsai?
Not necessarily the smallest one.
Look for the tree with the most interesting trunk and lower branches.
A good candidate has:
a relatively thick trunk
some taper from bottom to top
branches beginning fairly low
branches pointing in several directions
perhaps a bend or curve in the trunk
healthy compact growth
You can always shorten a tree later.
It is much harder to recreate good lower branches that were never there.
A slightly short, bushy olive may therefore be a much better bonsai candidate than a tall perfectly straight specimen.
What Soil Should an Olive Bonsai Use?
Again, drainage is everything.
A bonsai olive should generally grow in a very open, gritty mixture.
Materials might include:
pumice
lava rock
perlite
coarse horticultural sand
fine gravel
pine bark
a modest amount of potting or bonsai soil
The objective is not to create a swamp.
Water should move through the soil quickly while leaving plenty of oxygen around the roots.
Something around 60–70% coarse mineral material with 30–40% organic material can work as a practical starting point.
Avoid extremely fine sand because it can compact.
What About Moss?
Moss can be beautiful on a bonsai.
But an olive doesn’t need a thick blanket of moss.
A little decorative moss is fine.
A completely moss-covered, constantly damp surface—particularly in South Florida humidity—is less desirable.
It can hide how wet the soil really is.
Can Olive Trees Be Used as a Hedge?
Yes.
They can make an extremely attractive informal hedge or privacy screen.
For a denser screen, trees might be planted approximately 6–8 feet apart.
For a looser Mediterranean grove appearance, perhaps 8–12 feet apart.
Personally, I wouldn’t shear them into a perfectly square hedge.
Part of the beauty of an olive is its irregular silver-green branching structure.
Selective pruning keeps that character.
How Close Can They Be to a House?
Something like 15 feet from a house gives you plenty of flexibility for a managed olive tree.
At that distance you can maintain trees around 8–12 feet tall and create privacy near windows without having them pressed against the structure.
Olives also generally have less notorious root systems than some of the giant tropical trees commonly planted in South Florida.
Can an Olive Grow in a Courtyard or Atrium?
Yes, provided there is enough sunlight.
A 5-foot-by-5-foot planting opening surrounded by concrete can support a managed olive, particularly if the soil continues underneath the surrounding pavement and gives the roots somewhere to travel.
If the planting area is effectively a completely enclosed concrete box, then the tree is essentially living in a giant container.
That can still work, but the tree should probably be maintained at a more modest size.
An 8–12-foot olive would be much more comfortable there than trying to produce a 30-foot monster.
What Eats Olive Trees?
Olives aren’t particularly defenseless.
Possible pests include scale insects, caterpillars, grasshoppers, stink bugs and other sap-feeding insects. In South Florida, iguanas may investigate almost anything green, but I would worry considerably more about drainage and root health than about iguanas destroying an olive grove.
With healthy trees, good sunlight and airflow, serious pest problems are not inevitable.
What Should You Do When You First Bring Young Olive Trees Home?
Nurseries sometimes wrap young plants in plastic for transportation.
Take that plastic off once you get them home.
Plastic sitting around foliage in strong sun can rapidly become a miniature greenhouse.
Then check the soil before watering. If the soil is moist, leave it alone.
If it is dry, give it a thorough watering and allow it to drain.
And don’t immediately take a nursery-grown tree from shade and put it into ten hours of blazing summer sun.
Give it a little time to acclimate.
Do Olive Trees Smell Good?
This deserves clarification.
The fragrance people associate with olives primarily comes from their flowers.
The leaves themselves don’t normally perfume your entire yard.
When olives bloom, however, several flowering trees together can create a subtle scent.
That is another argument for planting a small grouping rather than a single tree.
The Real Secret to Growing Olive Trees
After asking all these questions, I realized that olive trees are probably easier to grow than we make them.
They don’t want to be pampered.
Give them: sun, air, drainage, room for their roots, water when they actually need it
Then mostly leave them alone. There is something fitting about that.
These are trees capable of living longer than the people planting them.
You may plant a two-foot olive today, prune it for the next twenty years, sit underneath it when you are older—and still leave behind a relatively young tree.
Someone else may eventually sit underneath the same branches.
Someone else may pick its olives.
And perhaps that is part of the reason people have been planting olive trees for thousands of years.
