Olive Tree

Temperature:  30-90 degrees Fahrenheit

The Olive Tree has been around for ever dating back to 2,500 B.C.  The Olive Tree is an evergreen tree that can grow to be fifty feet tall with a spread of about thirty feet.  I think the Olive Tree is a rather attractive tree. Its grayish feathered shaped leaves can make an interesting accent to your garden.  The Olive Tress is a long living tree with a life expectancy of five hundred years; this is why there are around 800 million Olive Trees in the world today.

Olive Trees need full sun to achieve but results.  Also plant them away from any sidewalks or patios, the olives will fall off and stain the cement.  Olive tree will grow in any well drained soil.  In the summer water your free plant every month with deep water and in the winter you can cut back the water amount by half.  Olive trees can survive extended dry periods making it a drought tolerant tree.  A yearly feeding will be beneficial before spring starts, ask your local gardening center which fertilizer will work best in your area.  Proper pruning is important for the Olive Tree harvest.  Go ahead and prune away this tree like to have room for new foliage.  Prune the Olive Tree in the early summer.  When pruning always remember that the olive tree will never bear its fruit in the same place twice.  Thinning the tree will give you larger fruits.

The Olive Tree actually produces flowers that are hidden by the evergreen.  They flowers are small and cream colored and sometimes fragrant.  The fruit the Olive tree produces is a green color and when fully ripe should be a blackish-purple.  The shape of the olive will range from round to oval. 

Along with eating the Olives and making olive oil, they are now looking into Olives being used as a renewable energy source, using waste produces from the olive plants as an energy source that produces 2.5 times the energy generated by burning the same amount of wood. 

Enjoy your Free Plant!