Tolleys Upright Olive Tree

Tolleys Upright Olive (Olea europaea 'Tolleys Upright') is the olive for gardens with no width to spare. It holds a columnar shape at about 4m tall and only 1.5m across, so a row screens a fence line or lines a driveway without crowding the path. The foliage is silver grey and evergreen, cream flowers follow in spring, and fruit set is light rather than a crop dropping on your paving. Australian bred, and hardy to frost, drought, heat and salt wind.

Why you'll love it

• Narrow by nature, not by pruning. About 1.5m wide at maturity, so it fits a strip a standard olive would burst out of.
• A screen that keeps its shape. Planted a metre apart it closes into a slim silver wall and stays there.
• Light fruit set. Mainly ornamental, so far less staining and sweeping than a table olive near a path or pool.
• Tough almost everywhere. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, heat tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil.
• Safe around pets. Not toxic to cats or dogs.

Where it works best

Narrow screening. Plant 1m apart in a single row for a continuous 4m screen on a bed under 2m wide. That is the whole reason to choose this cultivar.

Driveways and avenues. For a formal avenue where each tree reads as its own shape, open the spacing to 2m or 3m. The upright habit does the styling.

Pots and small gardens. A specimen in a 50L or larger pot suits an entry or a courtyard. Use a free draining mix and never leave the pot standing in water.

Growing Tolleys Upright Olive in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun all day; the more open the site, the better the silver colour. It suits warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean and dry inland gardens, and being frost hardy it handles the tablelands. In humid tropical and subtropical gardens olives are harder to please, so treat this as a dry climate plant.

Soil. Drainage is the one thing it insists on. Poor, sandy, rocky and limey soils are all fine; heavy wet clay is not. On clay, plant on a mound 300mm high with gypsum and coarse compost through the bed.

Water and feed. Deep water weekly through the first two summers, then it carries itself on rainfall most seasons. Feed lightly in early spring; overfeeding makes soft growth and a looser column.

Pruning. Very little. Remove basal suckers and shorten any shoot that steps out of the column. Tip prune in late winter for density.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown from tube stock through the 200mm, 250mm and 300mm pots and multipacks, up to 400mm, 500mm and the 25L to 100L advanced stock. Small sizes suit a long driveway run: olives establish quickly and the freight saving is large. The 400mm and above arrive already carrying trunk and shape.

Plants travel upright and well packed, delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost. Expect a quiet first month while it roots out, then growth as the soil warms. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare every olive variety we grow
• Browse hedging and screening plants
• How to prepare a garden bed
• See the full range of trees

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One metre apart in a single row. The canopies knit within two to three seasons and the finished screen stays under 2m deep.

Does it actually fruit?

Lightly, and not every year. Cream flowers in spring and a scattering of small olives after them, without the mess a table olive makes over a driveway.

Will it survive frost and cold winters?

Yes. It is frost hardy and grows well in cool temperate districts, including the tablelands. Its harder test is humidity, not cold.

Western Australia: this plant is listed as an environmental weed in WA, where it escapes from gardens into bushland. We do not recommend it for WA gardens. Please choose a local alternative.