Olive Trees: Half-Standard Lollipop

• Variety: Olive, a clipped lollipop on a clear stem
• Latin name: Olea europaea (Oleaceae)
• Sold as: Pot-grown half-standard lollipop, about 140cm tall with a head 35cm across
• Held size with routine clipping: As supplied. A light trim each year keeps the head its size and shape
• Ultimate size unclipped (species): 4.5-9m, slowly, over decades. Not what a clipped lollipop in a pot will do
• Growth rate: Slow
• Type: Evergreen
• Foliage: Narrow, leathery, grey-green leaves, silvery beneath
• Hardiness: To about -8 to -10°C once established, in shelter and sharp drainage. Cold with wet roots is what kills olives, not frost alone
• Position: Full sun
• Soil: Deep, fertile and sharply drained. Hates waterlogging
• Pot or ground: Both. A pot is often the safer choice in Britain, because you control the wet
• Fruit: Rarely produced in Britain, and rarely ripens. Not a tree to buy for a harvest
• Good for: Either side of a door, sunny terraces, sheltered courtyards
• Plant: Any month, into sharp drainage
• Delivered: Year-round, whenever it is in stock. Collection from Castle Cary also available

An olive trained as a half-standard lollipop: about 140cm tall, a clipped head of grey-green leaves 35cm across on a clear stem, grown in Britain from the start and ready for the sunniest place you have.

Olive Trees: A Clipped Lollipop for the Sunniest Spot You Have

This is Olea europaea, the common olive, trained as a half-standard lollipop about 140cm tall with a rounded head 35cm across. It is evergreen, with narrow, leathery, grey-green leaves that flash silver underneath when the wind turns them. Growth is slow, and a light trim each year holds the head at the size you bought. Very small white flowers appear in early summer. Olives are bought in ones and twos, and the classic use is a matched pair flanking a door.

It wants deep, fertile, sharply drained soil, and full sun is not negotiable: an olive in shade is a slow disappointment. Nor is it frost that kills olives in Britain. An established tree in a sheltered place takes about -8 to -10°C, but cold combined with wet roots is another matter, and that is the failure to plan against. In a pot, use a loam-based compost with added grit, stand the pot on feet for winter and keep the roots on the dry side. In the ground, choose the foot of a warm south or west wall.

Do not buy it for the olives. Fruit is rarely produced in Britain, and what does set seldom ripens. Buy it for the leaf, the shape and the fact that a hot, dry summer suits it better than almost anything else in the garden.

An Olive on Its Own Roots

Your olive grows on its own roots, not grafted onto another plant. That has two consequences worth knowing. Nothing but the clipping and the pot holds it at its trained size; planted out and left alone it would grow on slowly, over decades, towards the 4.5 to 9m of the species. And olives regrow after damage from a swollen woody base packed with dormant buds, which is how they have survived fire and felling for thousands of years. On an own-root tree that regrowth is the same plant you bought, so if a hard winter cuts yours back, it may well return true.

Planting Companions

Choose companions that want what the olive wants: sun, sharp drainage and no fuss in a dry summer. Rosemary and the lavenders are the obvious ones, in pots alongside or at its feet. For a formal entrance, a Bay lollipop or pyramid is the other classic doorway plant and takes a little more shade, and low box hedging gives the same clipped finish at ground level.

Why buy from Ashridge?

Your olive has never been imported. It was raised by a specialist grower in the UK, grown on and finished on our own nursery in Somerset, which is regularly inspected. It has already stood through British weather, and plants from one batch match, which matters when you buy a pair.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an olive tree hardy in the UK?

An established olive in a sheltered, sharply drained place takes about -8 to -10°C. Young trees suffer in prolonged cold below about -5°C, so fleece yours in a cold snap for the first few winters.

What kills olive trees in Britain?

Wet roots combined with cold kill olive trees in Britain, far more often than frost alone. Sharp drainage, pot feet in winter and a place out of north and east winds matter more than wrapping.

Is an olive better in a pot or in the ground?

An olive is often safer in a pot in Britain, because you control how wet the roots get and you are free to move it into shelter. In the ground it needs a warm wall and sharp drainage.

Will my olive tree produce olives I can eat?

Do not count on olives to eat. Fruit is rare in Britain, it seldom ripens here, and any olive must be cured before it is edible.

When is the best time to prune an olive tree?

Prune an olive lightly in mid-spring, with any heavier cutting in early to mid summer. Never prune in winter, because the tree needs warmth to heal its wounds.

What is Xylella, and should I worry about buying an olive?

Xylella is a bacterial plant disease found in parts of southern Europe, and olive is one of its main hosts. Your Ashridge olive was grown in the UK throughout and never imported, on inspected premises.