Ask the Gardener: The Olive Tree

Those of you lucky enough to go on an annual holiday to a Mediterranean country should be quite familiar with the Olea europaea tree, commonly called the olive tree.

What you may not know is that the olive tree thrives in Irish gardens nearly as well as its native habitat, when given the correct position.

Olives can survive our cold winters and freezing conditions as long as they are not sitting in wet soil, like clay. They prefer light free draining soil in an open sunny or semi-shaded site and given these, will grow quite happily.