Olive
A long-lived, drought-tolerant Mediterranean tree suited to warm, dry parts of New Zealand (Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson and similar) with free-draining soil and a hot, dry summer to ripen fruit and a degree of winter chill to set it. First fruit typically appears 4-5 years after planting. Home-picked olives need curing before they're edible, so groceryValueNzd here is a conservative estimate of home-cured olive/oil equivalent value rather than a fresh-produce comparison. Peacock spot, a wet-season leaf fungus, is the main disease risk; no fungicides are registered for home use on fruit-bearing olive trees in NZ.
- Sun
- full sun
- Water
- low
- Spacing
- 500cm
- Harvest
- Ready in about 4-5 years
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Grows in
- Whangārei / Northland, Auckland, Hamilton / Waikato, Tauranga / Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Napier / Hawke's Bay, New Plymouth / Taranaki, Palmerston North / Manawatū-Whanganui, Wellington, Nelson, Tasman, Blenheim / Marlborough, West Coast, Christchurch / Canterbury
- Expected yield
- a modest home harvest, a few kg of olives per mature tree per season once well established
- Cost to grow
- ~$30 NZD
- Grocery value
- ~$60 NZD
- Mature height
- 5m
- Evergreen
- Yes
- Common diseases
- Peacock spot
- Common pests
- Olive lace bug, Scale insects
When to plant by region
In Whangārei / Northland, Auckland, Hamilton / Waikato, Tauranga / Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Napier / Hawke's Bay, New Plymouth / Taranaki, Palmerston North / Manawatū-Whanganui, Wellington, Nelson and Tasman: September-November. In Blenheim / Marlborough, West Coast and Christchurch / Canterbury: October-November.
Growing stages
Planting & establishmentFirst few months
- Needs full sun, free-draining soil and a hot, dry summer to ripen fruit; best suited to warm, dry regions such as Hawke's Bay, Marlborough and Nelson
- Water while young roots settle in, even though this is a low-water tree once established
- No reliable outdoor planting window is given for Otago in this database
Early growthFirst 1-2 years
- Watch for olive lace bug and scale insects on new growth
- Needs a degree of winter chill to set fruit well, alongside the hot, dry summer that ripens it
Flowering & fruiting
- Peacock spot, a wet-season leaf fungus, is the main disease to watch in humid weather; no fungicides are registered for home use on fruit-bearing trees
- First fruit typically appears 4-5 years after planting
- Continue watching for scale insects on developing fruit
Maturity
- Expect a modest home harvest of a few kg of olives per mature tree per season once well established
- Home-picked olives need curing before they're edible; they can't be eaten straight off the tree
- Peacock spot remains the main ongoing disease risk in wet seasons