How Big Do Olive Trees Get? Height, Spread and Growth Rate
How big do olive trees get? Planted in the ground, a standard olive usually reaches 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) tall with a crown almost as wide, while a potted one is normally kept somewhere between 4 and 10 feet. Variety, climate and your pruning shears decide where in that range yours ends up. Below: size in the ground and in a pot, how fast olive trees grow, a table by variety, and how pruning controls size.
How big do olive trees get in the ground?
Most horticultural references put a mature olive at 20 to 30 feet tall, with a spread equal to or a little less than its height. That surprises people who have only met olives as silvery patio plants. On deep, rich, well-watered soil a vigorous variety can top 30 feet; on thin, dry ground the same tree may stop well short of 20.
Height is only part of it. Left alone, an olive tends to go broad and multi-trunked, branching low and throwing suckers from its base. Over the decades the trunk thickens and twists, which is where the gnarled look comes from. The famous ancient trees of the Mediterranean are remarkable for girth rather than height (see the biggest, oldest olive trees on earth), and an olive keeps adding wood for a very long time, as our piece on how long olive trees live explains.
Below ground, the root system is mostly shallow and spreading, concentrated in the top few feet of soil rather than plunging straight down. Olive roots are not generally considered invasive, but a full-size tree still wants room. Plant a standard variety at least 10 to 15 feet from a house, pool or patio, partly for the canopy and partly because ripe fruit stains paving.
How big does an olive tree get in a pot?
In a container, the pot sets the ceiling. Roots can only support so much canopy, so a potted olive usually settles somewhere between 4 and 10 feet, depending on the container and how firmly you prune. As a rough guide, a tree in a 15 to 20 inch pot is comfortable at 4 to 6 feet, while one in a half-barrel-size container, 24 inches or more across, can carry 8 feet or more. Past that it gets top-heavy and needs a spot out of strong wind.
If you want an olive that stays small, a pot is the most reliable dwarfing method there is. Our guide to growing olive trees in pots covers container size, mix and winter care in detail.
How fast do olive trees grow?
Olives are usually described as slow to moderate growers. As a rough guide, a young tree in the ground in a warm climate adds about 1 foot of height a year, and a vigorous variety with summer water, heat and decent soil can manage closer to 2 feet. A potted tree, or one in a cool-summer climate, often grows only a few inches to a foot.
The pattern changes with age. Height gain is quickest while the tree is young and not yet carrying much fruit. Once it crops regularly, more of its energy goes into fruit, trunk and spread, and upward growth slows. The first year after planting is often quiet above ground because the tree is building roots. Gardeners have a saying for it: the first year it sleeps, the second it creeps, the third it leaps.
What speeds growth up, and what slows it down:
- Heat and full sun speed it up. Shade and cool summers slow it right down.
- Summer water drives growth. Dry-farmed trees grow far more slowly.
- Rich soil and nitrogen push leafy growth, often at the expense of fruit.
- Variety matters: vigorous types like Mission outgrow compact ones like Arbequina.
- Hard pruning triggers a burst of fast, upright regrowth the following season.
Olive tree size by variety
Variety is the choice you make once and live with for decades, so pick the size you want up front. The size classes below are approximate for a tree left unpruned in the ground in a suitable climate: small means usually under about 15 feet, medium 15 to 25 feet, large 25 feet and up. Soil, water and pruning shift every one of them.
| Variety | Vigor and habit | Rough size unpruned | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arbequina | Low vigor, compact, slightly weeping | Small to medium | Self-fertile; the usual choice for pots and small gardens |
| Arbosana | Low vigor, very compact | Small | Widely planted in close-set hedgerow orchards |
| Koroneiki | Moderate vigor | Medium | Tiny fruit, prized for oil; a good pollinator for Arbequina |
| Manzanillo | Spreading, often wider than tall | Medium | The classic green table olive |
| Frantoio | Vigorous, open canopy | Large | Tuscan oil variety that wants room |
| Mission | Vigorous, upright | Medium to large | California’s historic olive; relatively cold-tolerant |
| Sevillano | Vigorous | Large | Very large table fruit |
| Little Ollie (fruitless) | Dense and shrubby | Around 6 to 8 feet | A shrub rather than a tree; no fruit |
| Swan Hill, Wilsonii, Majestic Beauty (fruitless) | Standard tree form | Medium to large | Landscape trees with little or no fruit |
If you are choosing between two of the varieties you are most likely to find at an American nursery, our profiles of Arbequina and Mission cover the fruit and oil as well as the tree.
How pruning controls olive tree size
Olives take pruning very well, which is why commercial growers can hold whole orchards at picking height and why a garden olive can be kept at 10 or 12 feet for as long as you like. The trick is a little every year rather than a lot at once:
- Prune in late winter or early spring, after the hardest frosts and before new growth starts.
- Use thinning cuts, taking whole branches back to where they join a larger limb. Topping the tree with heading cuts produces a thicket of vigorous upright shoots that makes it taller and denser the next year.
- As a rule of thumb, remove no more than about a quarter of the canopy in any one year.
- Keep the center open so light reaches inside, and take out suckers at the base and water shoots growing straight up.
Olives fruit on the previous season’s growth, so every cut trades some fruit for size control. Our guide to pruning an olive tree explains why less is usually more.
A “dwarf” or “patio” olive on a garden center label usually describes how the tree has been trained, not its genes. Many are ordinary fruiting varieties, often Arbequina, kept small by a pot and regular clipping. Plant one in the ground and stop pruning, and it will grow into a normal olive tree. The truly small ones, such as Little Ollie, are fruitless shrubs, so if you want both olives and a small tree, plan on a pot or a pair of pruning shears for life.
Frequently asked questions
How fast do olive trees grow per year?
As a rough guide, about 1 foot a year for a young tree in the ground in a warm climate, and up to around 2 feet for a vigorous variety with summer water and heat. Potted trees and trees in cool climates grow more slowly, and growth slows once the tree starts fruiting well.
What is the smallest olive tree?
The fruitless Little Ollie is a dense shrub that usually stays around 6 to 8 feet. Among fruiting varieties, compact types such as Arbequina and Arbosana stay smallest, especially in a pot.
How far from a house should I plant an olive tree?
For a full-size variety, allow at least 10 to 15 feet from the house, pool or paving. Olive roots are not generally considered invasive, but the canopy needs space and ripe fruit stains hard surfaces.
Can you keep an olive tree small?
Yes. Olives respond well to regular pruning, and a tree can be held at 10 to 12 feet, or smaller in a pot, for decades. Prune a little each late winter or early spring rather than cutting hard in one go.
How tall do olive trees get indoors?
Indoors, height is limited by the pot, the ceiling and the light, so most indoor olives are kept at roughly 3 to 6 feet. Low indoor light slows growth and often causes leaf drop, so an olive does best outside for as much of the year as your climate allows.