Planting guide

When to plant olive

Silvery evergreen that thrives on neglect; fruit needs curing before eating. In Melbourne it goes in Apr, May, Sep, Oct.

Start as: Potted plant or Bare-root plant
Ready in: 4+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 400 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means olive can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
London	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant olive

Plant in full sun and well-drained soil.
Water young trees; mature ones need little.
Prune lightly to let light in.
Cure fruit in brine or salt; do not eat raw.

Olive varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Kalamata Classicheavy-cropper · 26–34 wksLarge, purple table olive
Manzanillo Classicheavy-cropper · 26–34 wksGood table olive
Frantoio Classicheavy-cropper · 26–34 wksFruity oil, Italian classic
Verdale Adventurousself-fertile · 26–34 wksFrench olive; hardy
Arbequina Adventurousself-fertile · dwarf · pot-friendly · 26–34 wksSmall tree for oil, good in pots

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme

Olive by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana

Not sure olive is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now