Creating a living privacy screen with olive trees offers a distinct and attractive alternative to traditional fencing. These versatile trees can transform an outdoor space into a secluded retreat, providing both aesthetic enhancement and functional screening.
Benefits of Olive Trees for Privacy
Olive trees provide a year-round privacy solution due to their evergreen nature, ensuring continuous coverage. Their foliage, which becomes dense with proper care, forms an effective visual barrier. This density offers seclusion and contributes to sound dampening, reducing noise from outside areas.
Beyond practical uses, olive trees bring a distinct Mediterranean aesthetic. Once established, they exhibit notable drought tolerance, making them a sustainable choice. Their longevity means a well-planted screen can offer decades of consistent privacy and beauty.
Choosing Olive Tree Varieties for Screening
When selecting olive tree varieties for a privacy screen, consider their mature size and natural growth habit. Varieties with an upright or dense growth pattern are more effective for screening. Focusing on fruitless or low-fruiting varieties helps avoid the mess of fallen olives, contributing to a cleaner landscape.
‘Swan Hill’ is a popular non-fruiting choice, known for its dense growth and grey-green leaves.
‘Majestic Beauty’ offers a dense, fruitless option with smaller foliage, growing at a moderate pace.
For larger screens, ‘Wilsonii’ is a robust, fruitless variety that can reach heights of 25 to 30 feet.
Dwarf varieties like ‘Little Ollie’ (Montra) are suitable for smaller spaces or lower hedges.
Other choices include ‘Bambalina’ for low screens and ‘Tolley’s Upright’ for a narrow, dense, and tall screen.
Planting an Olive Tree Privacy Screen
Successful planting requires a location that receives at least eight hours of direct sunlight daily. Olive trees adapt to a variety of soil types, provided there is good drainage. Dig the planting hole to the same size as the tree’s container.
Remove the tree from its container and loosen any circling roots. Position the tree so the top of the root ball is slightly above the surrounding grade level. Backfill with soil, ensuring not to bury the tree deeper than its nursery pot. After planting, water the tree thoroughly. For a dense privacy screen, space olive trees 3 to 8 feet apart, with some varieties like ‘Astone’ potentially planted closer at 2 to 2.6 feet for very tight hedges.
Maintaining Your Olive Tree Privacy Screen
To encourage a dense and effective privacy screen, specific pruning techniques are beneficial. Delay significant pruning for the first three to four years after planting, allowing the tree to establish its root system. Once established, pruning in spring or early summer helps shape the screen and promote new growth.
Heading cuts manage height and encourage bushier growth, while thinning cuts improve air circulation and light penetration. Regularly removing any dead, diseased, or crossing branches contributes to the screen’s health and appearance. This practice helps maintain an open center, beneficial for the tree’s vigor.
Watering is important, especially for young trees, which may need water every third day for the initial two weeks, then weekly. Established trees are more drought-tolerant but benefit from deep watering about once a month, or when the top few inches of soil feel dry. Fertilization with a balanced product from early spring through summer supports lush foliage.
Important Considerations for Olive Tree Screens
Olive trees have a moderate growth rate, meaning achieving a full privacy screen requires patience as they mature. Their suitability depends on climate, thriving best in USDA Hardiness Zones 8 through 10. Some varieties tolerate Zone 7, but temperatures consistently below 15-22°F (-5 to -10°C) can cause significant damage.
Establishing an olive tree screen represents a long-term commitment, given their potential for many decades of life.