Olive Trees

About

Olive trees suit Australian gardens better than almost any other Mediterranean import: they shrug off drought, frost, salt wind and poor soil, and live for generations. This collection holds more than a dozen varieties, from the 2.5m dwarf Bambalina for pots through to grove classics like Kalamata, Manzanillo and Frantoio. The real decision is fruit or foliage: table and oil varieties bring a harvest, while fruitless Swan Hill keeps paving clean. Filter by height and use below. Fruit or foliage: the first decision If the harvest matters, start with the table classics. The Kalamata Olive reaches about 6m unpruned but is easily held at 3m to 4m with an annual prune. Manzanillo stays lower and more spreading at around 5m, and Verdale is a South Australian dual purpose variety for both the table and the press. For oil, Frantoio is a heavy cropping, self fertile Italian variety, and Arbequina packs a serious harvest into a compact 5m tree. All sit within our wider fruit tree range . For silver grey foliage without the harvest, Swan Hill is effectively fruitless and sheds very little pollen, keeping paving and pool filters clean. The Tolleys Upright Olive grows as a narrow 4m column about 1.5m wide with only light fruit, made for tight side passages. For pots and courtyards, the dwarf Bambalina stays near 2.5m and Garden Harvest about 3m. One outlier: the Tea Olive is an Osmanthus , not a true olive, and earns its place with intensely perfumed spring flowers. Where olive trees thrive in Australia Olives evolved around the Mediterranean, so Perth, Adelaide and dry inland districts suit them best. They are just as reliable through Sydney, and nearly every variety here is frost hardy enough for Melbourne, Canberra and the hills. All tolerate salt and coastal wind. In subtropical Brisbane, choose Arbequina, Mission or Swan Hill and accept a lighter fruit set in humid summers. Their roots are famously well behaved, which is why so many appear among our trees with non invasive