Olea europaea – Half Standard Ball Head

Description

These formally clipped ball head Olives work well in a pot, on a balcony or lining the edge of your terrace. With smooth 80/100cm trunks and ball heads they should be clipped each year to develop a large full round head.

The European Olive can live up to 2000 years. When the plant is young the trunk is straight and covered in smooth, silvery grey bark. Later the trunk becomes twisted, knobbly, darker and often with cavities. Olives are evergreen and have a narrowly oval leaf.

Olives are hardy in the southern UK and create great architectural features, however since we have three less growing months than the Mediterranean you are highly unlikely to see any Olive fruit developing. 

Olives can be be formally pruned and trained, or left to grow into a free form natural style. They require full sunlight and do not like excessive soil moisture so extra care must be taken to plant them in deep, dry, permeable soil in a south facing position protected from strong wind.

Origin: Mediterranean basin