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Fruit of the month

Shallots

Fruit of the Month

We all like to try a new crop from time to time and few gardeners are likely to let a little thing like the UK climate put them off. Olives are so delicious and seeing all those plump green or black fruits on holiday in the Med, is sure to make you want to try an olive tree.

The trees themselves are surprisingly hardy and don’t require a great deal of heat in the winter – in fact, a few large established trees survive outdoors all winter in the UK. However, smaller potted specimens are best kept in a frost-free greenhouse or polytunnel so that their roots do not become frozen.
Although often supplied bearing fruit, olives are not always guaranteed to crop again once in our climate and away from the nursery on which they were grown, often in Italy, Spain or France. However, being evergreen they do look very pretty all year round and are well worth growing as a talking point in the summer, when they can be moved outside to be admired by visitors.

Overwatering is generally more of a danger to olive trees than the cold. They are likely to be supplied in gritty compost and when the time comes to repot, it is essential to move them into a pot only slightly larger than the old one and to use a similar gritty material. Never stand pots in a saucer of water, but allow the compost to drain freely after watering and allow the compost to dry out a little in between times.

Occasional feeding is beneficial using a general liquid fertiliser such as liquid Growmore once a month.
The pretty little white flowers are produced in the spring and if you are lucky enough to have any of your fruit set, they will gradually ripen during the summer – usually from green to black. The fruit must be protected from frost or it will be killed, so move your plant back into a frost free place in September.

Pruning is not really necessary, but should take place in the spring and simply involves trimming to encourage a goblet-like shape so that air and light can enter the middle of the plant.

For more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!