Ursula Buchan

Gardens: Beguiled by olive trees

Fashion may be Folly’s child, but that never stopped gardeners, when the urge was on them, from planting something à la mode.

issue 18 December 2010

Fashion may be Folly’s child, but that never stopped gardeners, when the urge was on them, from planting something à la mode.

Fashion may be Folly’s child, but that never stopped gardeners, when the urge was on them, from planting something à la mode. That must be why olive trees (Olea europea), natives of the rocky dry soils of the eastern Mediterranean, are now so widely planted in British gardens. Prince Charles has them at Highgrove and they can be seen each year at Chelsea Flower Show so, hey, we all have to grow them, don’t we?

If you want them to survive unscathed our new-style, old-style cold winters — especially if you live in an exposed rural location — you will have to wrap them up like mummies in horticultural fleece or bring them inside under glass.

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