Hello! Bearing in mind its origination in the mediterranean (spelling?!!) it will need regular watering in the summer months, in a free draining soil mix. A general purpose liquid feed should be given about now and another in mid summer. At this time in spring you can cut out any weak/dead shoots and trim to shape. Unless you have it in a glasshouse environment, it will not produce fruit. Look out for scale insects and mealy bugs ... provado bug killer is wonderful under and over the leaves and stems. I would also disinfect annually with vine weevil killer.

Watering, given it is a native of the mediterranean, is what it wont need! The ground is dry and baked from May to September!

Is it in a pot? Make sure whatever it's grown in is big enough. The commonest mistake people with pot-grown olive trees in the UK make is to give it too much heat in winter-time by bringing it into a heated house. As with lemon trees, keep the roots from freezing, step up the water in winter and make sure it gets as much light as possible. Mg is right, it won't need much water in summer, however, don't let it dry out completely. Ours is growing out in the garden, and we don't water it, despite months of drought.

id of thaught your doing fine with what your doing having grown a foot a year .

This is not an answer to your question as such but a little information about olive trees growing in the U.K. Some relatives of mine who live in North West London have olives trees in their gardens without any protection and all bear masses of good size olives. As I am not interested in trees, I did not ask for either the variety name or where the trees came from. My relatives come from Cyprus but their olive trees may come from a cool country in order to survive and thrive in London.

Noseypotter is right ... what you are doing so far is doing the job so "if it's not broken don't fix it"! I mentioned the regular watering as two customers insisted I did not water or feed their olives which were put in large pots. They died, and when I tipped them out into the moist compost area at the back of the garden, they sprang into life again. They were not pot bound. If your olives are in pots, then they will need some moisture occasionally during the summer. Hope this helps, though if your olives are not potted ... it may be interesting but useless to you!!

Do water in the pot! They are drought tolerant mainly by virtue of their extensive and aggressive root system, and that cant develop fully in a pot. I wouldn't let more than the top cm of compost dry out in the pot--once or twice a day here in the desert, but probably far, far less often in the UK!

lets face it most plants are happier in the ground .

Hi,thank u all for the advice,its not in a pot,growing freely. Its been well waterered.thanks to our "dry summer" Even my bamboo plant,has sprouted double the size shoots !! Cheers!!

your more than welcome .