What do you do in 2023 if you're not sure about something? Of course - you ask Google. But especially when it comes to proper care of olive trees, this can be fatal!
For years we have been trying to ensure the health of your olive trees in various forums and groups with various advice on how best to preserve them over the winter and yet every year there are many people who move the tree into the garage and cover it up in October to cover it again in June, completely without leaves.
You can't blame anyone - these tips are repeated every day in garden centers.
The olive is also exposed to cold temperatures with sub-zero temperatures and snow in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna or Slovenia and many other growing areas - it even needs it!
Our trees want it to be cold and bright. It has to be cold so that they can rest and bright so that they can gather strength over the winter for the next year, because as a permanently green tree, our olives also work in winter.
In the case of buried trees, it is not necessary to provide protection at all in protected areas or near the house. If you live in an extremely cold location and the tree is exposed, you can consider covering it on a daily basis. However, the cover should be removed during the day if possible to prevent the temperature under the cover from rising too sharply.
The olive can build up antifreeze enzymes - but only very slowly. A rapid drop in temperature is therefore less ideal for our trees. If it has been cold for a while, these are usually already well developed and protection would be counterproductive, because the sun's rays make it warm under the cover, the enzymes break down again and the journey begins again.
As always, it is easier to love the olive tree to death than to neglect it to death. ;-)
Petra
Unser Olivenbaum wurde voriges Jahr im Garten eingegraben, hatte eine tolle Wuchshöhe doch diesen Winter hat er nicht überstanden. Obwohl wir ihn schon recht groß und teuer gekauft hatten. Sehr sehr schade