Olive trees, any advice re looking after.

They can generally survive very cold weather but not if the soil is waterlogged as ice causes severe root damage. I find a way of covering the pots about the end of October so that the rain doesn't get in and then water very sparingly if at all during the rest of the winter. One very cold year mine lost lots of leaves but they were soon replaced by nice new ones.

I get tiny fruit but it will be many years before I need to think about an oil press!

Mine are in pots but I have two friends who have them in the garden and I'm told that once the plants are established in the ground you can pretty much ignore them.

 

Aldi have some in stock just now, plus Lemon Trees, some small orangey things, Lavender and Limes. £15 each - they look lovely x

 

As mentioned above as long as they're not sat in waterlogged ground or compost they will tolerate temperatures as low as -15, this is more likely if they're planted in the ground though. If they're in planters I would wrap the pot in bubblewrap if extreme cold was expected.

Once established they are also quite drought tolerant, so on the whole a lot easier than many think

Oh if they ever shed leaves at the end of the winter or in early spring don't worry this is normal, its when they lose older leaves

I'm thinking of getting one myself, there's a few around at the moment