Olive Tree

Evening all. I have just carried out Senior Managements orders and bought her a potted olive tree. I am told it is 8/10 years old, have looked at some 'how to look after it sites', but wonder if anyone can pass on first hand knowledge/experience to me.
I intend to plant it in a sunny courtyard and would appreciate pruning/ trimming etc advice.
If I kill it, I'm dead.
My life is in your hands.
Regards, Stinky.

Hi Stinky
I have an olive tree, which has been growing in various pots for about 15 years, first in a conservatory in England, and now outside.

They are pretty tough and quite slow growing. I've repotted it about every 3 - 4 years, using ordinary all-purpose potting compost. About once a month through the summer I put some liquid feed in when I water it. I have occasionally pruned a branch that is growing out of shape or in the wrong place, but generally I don't think it liked being pruned.

Two years ago it produced a big crop of olives, though most dropped off while still quite small. The only time I went really wrong was by bringing it inside during a very cold winter spell; the atmosphere indoors was so dry, all the leaves dropped off. But new leaves grew back in the spring, so there was no serious harm. What I do now is to wrap winter plant fleece around it during the coldest months and leave it, unwatered, on the patio.

During the hot weather it needs watering every couple of days, like any other potted plant. Otherwise, it just does its own thing and seems quite happy. In the wild, olives grow in quite rugged conditions, so I think they can cope with neglect better than with super-cossetting.

Thanks Peirol. Think I will plant him and apart from watering, leave him be to settle this year.
Apparently there is an old saying the tree should be pruned so a swallow can fly through the middle of it, I presume that means thinning so sunlight can reach all the shoots. Stinky.

We brought ours over from the UK a couple of years ago, having pruned it first in Autumn....first mistake! Apparently they must be pruned in summer, but it survived anyway. Then, we were informed by sundry experts that it no chance of survival due to low winter temperatures. So we assume a good wrap around with fleece is required. We also planted with perlite to retain moisture during hot summers. If you get olives from it there's an interesting procedure to go into to process them as they cannot be eaten straight off the tree. bigplantnursery.co.uk are a mine of information.