Protecting Olive Trees from Frost and Wet Winters

By How to Taste Olive Oil Like a Professional
Comments 35
13 Jul 2026

Protecting Olive Trees from Frost and Wet Winters

Why British Winters Are Harder on Olives Than You Might Think

Olives are tougher than their Mediterranean looks suggest, and a well-established tree in a sheltered London or Cornish garden will shrug off most winters without complaint. The trouble is that our cold arrives wet. In Greece or southern Spain, winter lows come with dry air and sharp drainage; here, a young olive can sit in sodden compost for weeks while temperatures hover just below freezing. That combination of cold roots and waterlogged soil does far more damage than frost alone.

As a rough guide, a mature olive can cope with around minus 10°C in dry, free-draining ground. A two- or three-year-old tree in a pot is far more vulnerable, and the roots are usually the first thing to suffer. If you can keep the rootball reasonably dry and a few degrees warmer than the surrounding air, you have won most of the battle before the first hard frost arrives.

Start With Drainage, Because Wet Kills Faster Than Cold

Before you wrap anything, check that water can actually leave the pot. A blocked drainage hole in November is a death sentence by February.

Stand every container on pot feet, bricks or timber battens so it never sits flat in a puddle or on a paved patio that holds water.
Remove saucers and drip trays entirely from October to March. They collect exactly the rainwater you are trying to lose.
If the compost has slumped and gone sticky, tease out the top 3–4cm and replace it with a gritty, soil-based mix.
Never let a pot stand in a shallow tray of gravel that fills with rain — it looks tidy and behaves like a reservoir.

In the ground, plant on a slight mound if your soil is heavy clay. Dig in plenty of grit and well-rotted organic matter over a wide area, and make sure the tree sits with the top of its rootball just proud of the surrounding soil, never sunk into a dip.

Wrapping Pots and Protecting Young Trees

Insulating the pot is often more valuable than wrapping the foliage. The roots cannot move away from the cold, and a terracotta or thin plastic pot offers almost no protection.

Wrap the outside of the pot with bubble wrap, hessian or an old wool blanket, secured with twine. Go right down to the base and up to the rim.
Leave the compost surface open to the air, but spread a 5cm layer of straw, bark chip or dry leaf mould over it to insulate the crown of the roots.
For young trees in their first two winters, drape horticultural fleece over the canopy and tie it loosely at the trunk. Fleece is better than plastic sheeting, which traps condensation and can cook a tree on a bright January afternoon.
Move the fleece or open it up on mild, sunny days so the foliage can breathe and damp cannot settle.

Terracotta pots are beautiful and terrible in equal measure: they crack in a hard freeze and they hold moisture. If a favourite olive lives in one, consider slipping the whole rootball into a plastic pot for the winter and returning it in spring.

Moving Containers Under Cover

The single most effective thing you can do for a potted olive is to get it out of the rain. An unheated greenhouse, a cold frame, a garage with a window, or the sheltered side of a house wall all work well. The aim is not warmth but dryness, still air and a buffer against the sharpest overnight lows.

If indoor space is impossible, group pots together against a south- or west-facing wall, ideally on a paved area that drains freely. Grouping creates a microclimate and reduces wind chill. Avoid frost pockets: the bottom of a slope, a hollow in the lawn, or the open middle of a garden where cold air pools on still nights. A wall releases stored heat slowly and can make two or three degrees of difference, which is often enough.

Watering, Feeding and What to Ignore Until Spring

Overwatering in winter is the most common mistake. An olive in cold, wet compost will not take up water, so it simply rots. Water only when the top few centimetres are genuinely dry, and never water when the compost is frozen or when a frost is forecast. In an unheated greenhouse, a light watering once every three or four weeks is usually ample.

Stop feeding from late September. Fresh growth pushed out in autumn is soft, sappy and the first thing to be damaged by cold. Resume a balanced feed in April, once you can see new shoots moving.

Inspect the tree occasionally through winter. Grey, mushy roots and a sour smell when you lift the pot mean trouble, and the best response is to remove the wrapping, improve drainage and let the compost dry out. Silvery scale insects on the stems can be wiped off with a damp cloth on a mild day.

Waking Up in Spring

Wait until the risk of hard frost has passed — usually mid to late March in the south, April further north — before removing insulation. Unwrap on a mild, cloudy day rather than in bright sunshine, and do it gradually over a week or so. Check the drainage holes again, refresh the top layer of compost, and repot if the roots are circling.

Expect some leaf drop after a hard winter; olives are surprisingly good at regrowing from old wood, so resist the urge to prune until you see where new growth breaks. With dry roots, a sheltered corner and a little patience, even a small olive will come through a British winter and reward you with that unmistakable silvery shimmer by midsummer.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
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- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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