Just a reminder about wintering for Olives. I had to reread this article to remind myself, so thought I’d remind others. If you haven’t read this, I highly recommend it. This morning it’s 1c (coldest for my area in Essex, this year).
This article is written by Graham Potter at Kaizen Bonsai UK. Written from UK point of view.
“Olives & The Cold - The elephant in the room as far as olives and the UK are concerned always seems to be the issue of frost hardiness. As already stated, cold is not our worst enemy. The big problem is the combination of cold AND wet. The effects of which can be just too much for these great trees to handle. As they say 'the secret is in the soil'. Heavy wet cold soil will be the undoing of this species. Travelling across Spain, Italy and as far afield as Cyprus I have seen olives grown in a fibrous medium of peat, perlite, multi-purpose compost and the like. In these areas with scorching summer temperatures this is important. Roots in a pot above ground are subject to much higher temperatures than those planted in the ground. Olives in these areas often need to be watered several times a day to prevent excess drying out and a wet root system will be much cooler than a dry one which largely explains the success of what we in Blighty might consider a very poor quality bonsai soil. In the UK we do not see 'scorching' temperatures but we do see long, cold and miserable dark wet winters and a fibrous soil mix seems to have an ability to transfer cold into a plant with 'chilling' efficiency. Therefore in the UK we need to have an open, very free draining growing medium, summer watering is not really an issue due to an olives drought resistance. But, that free draining mix will help preserve the trees roots over winter. The drier the soil the better the cold resistance. Think of it like this....in the depths of a cold winter lay a big bath towel outside overnight on the concrete and soak it in water. In the morning lay a dry towel on the ground next to the wet one. Next stand on the wet towel in bare feet for a while before moving over to the dry one, both will be cold but which is worse? It's quite reasonable to expect an olive in dry soil to withstand overnight temperatures of minus 10-14 Celsius however an olive in wet soil will suffer badly at just minus 2 Celsius. Obviously, where sustained lows are expected pop an olive in an open, unheated greenhouse or stand it underneath the bench to afford overhead cover but do avoid dark sheds or closed areas such as garages or cloches, olives need GOOD ventilation all the time. Keeping an olive dry in winter not only helps in relation to protecting it against cold but it will also preserve that valuable craggy bark and also any significant deadwood. Trees that are overwintered in the dry will grow much more strongly in summer as the roots will emerge in the spring in significantly better condition. In summary be more concerned about the wet and less about the cold, particularly if your olive is planted in less than ideal soil.”
www.kaizenbonsai.com
That’s just 1 section of the article.
I’ll be ensuring my olive sits on a box under my bench to avoid the worst of rain, so to avoid the talked about “freezing temp + wet” and be taking advantage of the drought resistance and keep my watering to min. In height of winter I’ll put it in the shed for a while but bringing out for few days to get a breather.
This article is written by Graham Potter at Kaizen Bonsai UK. Written from UK point of view.
“Olives & The Cold - The elephant in the room as far as olives and the UK are concerned always seems to be the issue of frost hardiness. As already stated, cold is not our worst enemy. The big problem is the combination of cold AND wet. The effects of which can be just too much for these great trees to handle. As they say 'the secret is in the soil'. Heavy wet cold soil will be the undoing of this species. Travelling across Spain, Italy and as far afield as Cyprus I have seen olives grown in a fibrous medium of peat, perlite, multi-purpose compost and the like. In these areas with scorching summer temperatures this is important. Roots in a pot above ground are subject to much higher temperatures than those planted in the ground. Olives in these areas often need to be watered several times a day to prevent excess drying out and a wet root system will be much cooler than a dry one which largely explains the success of what we in Blighty might consider a very poor quality bonsai soil. In the UK we do not see 'scorching' temperatures but we do see long, cold and miserable dark wet winters and a fibrous soil mix seems to have an ability to transfer cold into a plant with 'chilling' efficiency. Therefore in the UK we need to have an open, very free draining growing medium, summer watering is not really an issue due to an olives drought resistance. But, that free draining mix will help preserve the trees roots over winter. The drier the soil the better the cold resistance. Think of it like this....in the depths of a cold winter lay a big bath towel outside overnight on the concrete and soak it in water. In the morning lay a dry towel on the ground next to the wet one. Next stand on the wet towel in bare feet for a while before moving over to the dry one, both will be cold but which is worse? It's quite reasonable to expect an olive in dry soil to withstand overnight temperatures of minus 10-14 Celsius however an olive in wet soil will suffer badly at just minus 2 Celsius. Obviously, where sustained lows are expected pop an olive in an open, unheated greenhouse or stand it underneath the bench to afford overhead cover but do avoid dark sheds or closed areas such as garages or cloches, olives need GOOD ventilation all the time. Keeping an olive dry in winter not only helps in relation to protecting it against cold but it will also preserve that valuable craggy bark and also any significant deadwood. Trees that are overwintered in the dry will grow much more strongly in summer as the roots will emerge in the spring in significantly better condition. In summary be more concerned about the wet and less about the cold, particularly if your olive is planted in less than ideal soil.”
The Olive Tree as Bonsai
Kaizen Bonsai are specialist suppliers of Bonsai tools, gifts and fertilizers accompanied by a huge archive of videos and information on Bonsai care
That’s just 1 section of the article.
I’ll be ensuring my olive sits on a box under my bench to avoid the worst of rain, so to avoid the talked about “freezing temp + wet” and be taking advantage of the drought resistance and keep my watering to min. In height of winter I’ll put it in the shed for a while but bringing out for few days to get a breather.
