Dreaming of the Mediterranean or of making olive oil or pickled olives? Grown for their hardiness and delicious fruit, olives grow worldwide and can be planted to make a beautiful feature in your home's landscape, looking good in pots or a feature specimen tree in your garden.

The olive is a relatively easy-care tree to look after for the home gardener. They like to grow in a warm, sunny position with well-drained soil. They do not like wet feet, although they require regular watering in the summer and autumn, especially when they are young trees. This encourages good healthy growth.

Pruning

They require pruning to keep their shape, either the typical 'Vase' or 'Conical' shape. Pruning encourages the new season's growth, producing fruit for you in the following season. However, if you have an olive tree planted in your garden for purely aesthetic looks rather than for the crop, then pruning will not be required quite as often. Pruning is usually done after the harvest in the autumn/winter months, depending on where you are in New Zealand. A light prune may be given after the flowering has finished in November/December. Sometimes suckers may appear at the tree's base, which should be removed.

If you are hoping for a good crop of olives, here are a few tips for pruning:

• Prune after harvest on a sunny, dry day.
• Prune each year, keeping branches at a short length; otherwise, they will be too long and may snap with the weight of the fruit.
• When pruning to a typical 'vase’ shape aim to keep the tree open and airy, allowing a bird to fly through.
• Clear the trunk of any branches up to 60 cm high.
• Tip all branches to encourage more growth, more branches, and therefore more fruit.

Feeding

Fertilising your olive tree will encourage and enhance the health and growth of your tree. A regular dose of Citrus Tree Fertiliser in autumn and spring will benefit your tree. In pots, use a slow-release fertiliser such as Oderings Total Replenish.

Varieties and Pollination

Although there are self-fertile varieties, planting two or more is better to encourage larger crops. Olive trees are wind pollinated, with pollen moving 20–30 metres from tree to tree, so plant the partner tree close. Our top choices below all have fruit which ripens in autumn, changes from green through red to purple-black, and grows to approximately 4 m over ten years when pruned.

Koroneiki

A self-fertile variety with an attractive, smaller-sized shrubby tree bearing large crops of small fruit. This variety produces high-quality extra virgin olive oil. With a low chill requirement, it is well suited to coastal and warmer areas and colder climates.

Barnea

A commercial variety used extensively. Grows very quickly with a high-yielding oil. The fruit is good for pickling and as a table fruit. Semi self-fertile. Not ideal for areas with long cold winters.

Verdale

A large fruiting, self-fertile variety. The fruit is suitable for pickling when either green or black. Good cropper with a high oil percentage. Hardy to cold climates.