I have been given an olive tree

 The website I looked at suggested that they olives are hardy at least down
to -12C,
It is a year or two old from the pictures on the site (<2 ft tall).
I am in Tyneside a couple of miles from the sea and it gets below freezing,
but only to -10C in a very extreme year.
Do I plant it in the ground or keep it in a tub?
Other helpful tips would be appreciated.
--
Jim S
        Tyneside UK
     www.jimscott.co.uk

 says...

  9 years ago I won a small one (1ft) in a raffle, and didn't expect it to
survive winters .No GH so thin king it was a hopeless case I parked the
pot out of sight in the garden and forgot it.A couple of years later I
found it again, alive and well and have potted it on twice; it's now in a
big ceramic pot. In the first few winters I towed it under the house eaves
for slight protection but it's too heavy now so don't bother. I live by
the sea and our coldest winter temps in that 9 yrs has been -6C. Last
winter we had about 3 weeks below freezing. The olive was fully exposed
but  didn't even blink.

   My olive is how about  a metre high and across; would be twice that but
prune it quite hard; it grows about a foot every year. The trunk is
getting thick and gnarly, looks great. It flowered last years but no fruit
:-)

   Janet West Scotland.

 
When do you prune?  I've got an olive in a pot that is about 2 or 3 years
old, it gets as far as tiny little fruit every year, but doesn't go any
further.  It's getting a bit one-sided and thought I ought to prune it back,
but haven't got to finding out how and when to do it yet.

Advice from someone who's managed to not kill one always appreciated.  ;-)

 

I haven't really pruned ours much - it seems to be doing fine at the moment
but no doubt will need pruning eventually.
About 6-8' tall including pot.
The tiny little fruit may be as designed.
Our tree produces loads of small fruit - nothing like the commercial
olives - which overwinter then go black in the spring.
Then something eats them.

From
http://www.bigplantnursery.co.uk/GrowingGuideOlives.htm
"Olive trees can be easily pruned to maintain the size and habit required.
We recommend that light, formative pruning is undertaken in mid-spring with
heavier trimming in early to mid-summer.  Never prune during the winter and
be cautious in the autumn: like many Mediterranean trees, olives need some
heat and recovery time to heal wounds before the dormant winter period."

This sounds sensible advice.

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

 
How big's the pot, out of interest?


Presumably not you.  :-)


It does.  Much appreciated, thank you.