Peter Dowdall: Why I don't like olive trees in an Irish landscape 

Olive trees look wonderful in Mediterranean countries, but in Ireland? Not such much, believes the garden pro 

Olive trees conjure up images of sun-baked hillsides, dry stone terraces, and the silver shimmer of leaves under a hot Mediterranean sun, writes Peter Dowdall. Picture: iStock

What's with all the olive trees growing in Ireland right now? I know they have been on special offer in certain supermarkets, but really. Do we think that we are living in the Mediterranean all of a sudden? By the look of these plants, they don’t look like they have been grown in pots; rather, they look like they have been plucked from the ground and squeezed into the smallest pot possible to keep transport costs down. 

I must nail my colours to the mast and say, and this is a personal opinion, that I just don’t like olive trees in the Irish landscape. I think that they look fantastic in Italy and Portugal and in countries where they are suited, but not here.