Olive trees like full sun and do best in areas where the summers and long and hot and the winters relatively mild.  They also tolerate temperate coastal areas.  They cannot tolerate temperatures below 15 degrees F.  In areas where winters are harsh, they can be grown in containers and brought inside during cold wather or they can be kept indoors for many years as a houseplant.

A mature olive tree can reach a height of 25 to 50 feet with about the same width, although they are usually topped a lot shorter than that.  Even though olives grow rather slowly, young olive tree put on height fairly quickly so training should begin early.  Olive trees are very flexible and can be shaped in many ways.  They can be grown as single or multiple trunks.

Olive trees prefer deep rich soil, but will grow in a variety of soils, including alkaline and rocky soil.  They are drought resistant once established, but do need regular, moderate irrigations.

• Scale - spray when needed
• Olive knot (A disease that forms galls on twigs or branches) - prune out affected area, sterilizing the pruning shears after each cut
• Verticilium wilt (a disease causing die-back in some branches) - similarly prune out