Picual Olive Tree

Picual Olive Tree (Olea europaea 'Picual') is the variety Spanish growers built an industry on, and it earns a garden place for the same reasons: heavy cropping, high oil content and a tolerance for heat, salt and thin soil. In cultivation it settles at about 6m tall and 4m wide, less if you prune it, and the grey green canopy holds all year.

Why you'll love it

• A crop worth having. Picual is prized for oil yield and cures well for the table, so one mature tree returns something you actually use.
• It handles hard sites. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil, which suits exposed coastal blocks and dry inland gardens.
• Evergreen and silver. Soft grey green foliage that flickers silver in wind and holds through winter.
• You set the height. Left alone it reaches about 6m. Pruned annually it sits at 3m, which keeps the fruit within reach.

Where it works best

Grove and screen planting. Plant 4m apart for a productive screen. That spacing gives each canopy light on all sides, which is what fruit set depends on.

Feature trees and driveways. The gnarled trunk and silver canopy carry a Mediterranean garden on their own. Along a drive, hold to 5m so the trunks stay the feature.

Coastal gardens and pots. Salt laden wind does not trouble it. In a pot 500mm or wider it crops lightly and stays near 2m, provided the mix drains sharply.

Growing Picual Olive Tree in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun and open air movement. It suits Mediterranean, warm temperate, cool temperate and arid gardens, and it is frost hardy once established. Fruit set depends on cool winter nights.

Soil. Free draining above all else, alkaline to neutral ideally. It tolerates rock, sand and thin gravelly ground. On clay, mound the planting position 300mm above the surrounding bed.

Water and feed. Water deeply once a week through the first two summers, then only in long dry spells, since too much water gives leaf at the expense of fruit. Feed once in early spring, and add lime if your soil is acidic.

Pruning. Prune after harvest in late winter. Open the centre to light, take out water shoots from the base and shorten the leaders to hold your working height. Fruit forms on last year's wood, so never shear the whole canopy.

What to expect when it arrives

Two sizes are available: 200mm pots in packs of six, and single 400mm trees. The 200mm plants are young and suit a grove row you are prepared to grow on. The 400mm size has a formed trunk and is the pick for a feature tree or a pot.

Expect a few dropped leaves after transit, normal for an evergreen in a box. Trees establish quickly in warm weather and usually begin bearing useful crops in their fourth or fifth year. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare varieties in the olive tree collection.
• Growing olive trees in pots and under cover.
• Browse other edible plants.
• See more salt tolerant coastal plants.

Common questions

Do I need a second tree for fruit?

Picual sets fruit on its own, but yields lift noticeably with another olive variety nearby for cross pollination. If you have room for two, plant them 4m apart.

How long until it fruits?

A light crop often appears in the third year, with worthwhile quantities from about year four or five. Potted trees crop sooner but in smaller volumes.

Can I keep it small?

Yes. An annual prune after harvest holds it at 3m without reducing the crop, because you are shortening leaders rather than removing fruiting wood.

Will it fruit in a humid climate?

It grows well in humid gardens but flowers unreliably without cool winter nights. Plant it there for the foliage and the form, and treat fruit as a bonus.