The olive tree is an ancient cultivated plant that has been cultivated in the Mediterranean region for many thousands of years. In Germany, the easy-care and robust plant is usually kept in a pot.
Can you keep an olive tree in Germany?
The olive tree can be kept in Germany as a container plant, which requires protection from frost, a full sun and wind-protected location, and a temperature of around 10 °C during wintering. Free-range farming is only possible in a few southern wine-growing regions.
Olive tree does not tolerate frost
From his home countries – e.g. B. Italy or France - some olive varieties are used to frost, but Italian or southern French winters cannot be compared with the winters in Germany. The sub-zero temperatures that prevail in this country, which can last for days or even weeks, usually mean death from freezing for unprotected olives. It is therefore advisable to keep the tree in a bucket in order to keep the tree transportable and, if necessary, to be able to move it to a more protected place.
Don't keep olives in the room
Olives are not suitable as houseplants. It is best to place your olive tree in a protected location on the balcony, terrace or in the garden. The plant not only needs a location that is as full of sun as possible, but also protected from the wind. Olives also need a lot of air and are only grown indoors.kept indoors, quickly wither away. You can move your tree outdoors as soon as frost periods are no longer expected - pay particular attention to night frosts! – and ideally bring him to his winter quarters as late as possible.
Planting an olive tree
In most regions of Germany, it is not advisable to plant olive trees in the garden. The weather is usually too cold, especially the winters are too long and frosty. Free-range farming could only be successful in some wine-growing regions in the south of the Federal Republic, but only with appropriate protection in winter. In the cold season you should protect your olive properly - whether outdoors or in a container:
- Do not overwinter olives too warm, temperatures around 10 °C are optimal
- especially protect the roots from frost, otherwise they will die
- Root heating is always advisable for olives overwintering outdoors
- The trunk and crown also need protection, for example through special heat protection mats (€25.00 on Amazon)
- Always make sure there is enough sun and water regularly
- the colder it is, the less you have to water
- When there is a lack of light, the tree sheds its leaves
Olive groves in Germany
Between 2005 and 2007 there were some efforts to plant olive groves in the area around Cologne and in Saxony. However, these plantations all froze during the harsh winters between 2008 and 2010. There is currently only one experimental olive grove in the Kraichgau between Heidelberg and Karlsruhe with around 40 young trees.
Tips & Tricks
If possible, only buy robust olive trees that grew up in a harsher climate than the Mediterranean region. These are used to a different climate than Spanish trees and therefore cope better with the German climate.
