My mature, Madagascar Olive tree lost all its leaves after a pretty cold, south Florida winter. Can I expect the leaves to regrow, or is it dead?
My fruitless olive trees are growing well, but with many branches growing out from the base. I'm not sure how I should prune them to encourage a single trunk at the base. As they mature, will the single trunk at the base develop by itself?
Your olives won't develop a single trunk on their own. To develop a single trunk, you need to prune out those branches at the base.
I have a small olive tree in a pot. Can that be left out in winter or taken indoors?
It depends on what zone you are in and the variety. Most olives are very cold tender and need to be brought in in the winter. To be on the safe side, we would say that if you live in a zone lower than Zone 9, the tree will need to be brought indoors.
We have a three year old Olive tree that needs transferring to a bigger container. Could you tell me the best time of year to do this, and the best type of compost, please?
The best time of year to do this would be early spring. Any soil that is rich in compost and organic material will work well. This article will also help you avoid transplant shock, which can happen when repotting: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/learn-how-to-avoid-and-repair-transplant-shock-in-plants.htm
We live in central England and have 3 old olive trees that were planted early spring and were thriving. We suffered with a very cold spell over Christmas, albeit with not a lot of snow, and 2 of the trees have lost all of their leaves. The 3rd has a few remaining leaves. They don't have any buds but the stems are still green and bendy. Wiil they recover? Is there anything we should be doing to encourage growth?
As long as the stems are still alive, the trees can recover. The best thing that you can do with them is to just give them a little extra TLC. Trees that are more stressed are more likely to get pests so keep a sharp eye out for a possible pest infestation and treat it as soon as possible if you see one start.
I have an olive tree that produces tons of olives each year. The problem is I don't want olives, I just liked the look of an olive tree. Do I have any options besides pulling out the tree?
There is a sterilizing treatment that can be applied to the tree by a professional arborist or lawn care specialist (it is not available to the public). It is not 100% effective and needs to be applied yearly, but will significantly reduce the number of olives the tree produces. Here is more information: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/fruit-tree-sterilization.htm
We have 2 olive trees, not sure what sort, but they are roughly 8 yrs old and we have never had fruit. Why?
It all depends on what cultivars you have. Many olive tree cultivars do not fruit until they are 5-12 years of age, however, there are some cultivars such as 'Arbequina' and 'Koroneiki' that fruit as young as 3 years old. And, most olive trees need a pollinator tree of a different cultivar (are both of your trees of different cultivars?). There are also non-fruiting cultivars of olive that never produce.
For more information on growing olive trees, please visit the following link:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/olive/olive-tree-care-information.htm