Olive Tree Leaf Drop Uk
Give it as much light as you can.
Olive tree leaf drop uk. Olive leaf spot more commonly called peacock spot is a fungus that attacks olive trees worldwide. Identifiable by black or grey spots surrounded by yellow halos peacock spot infections are sporadic and may take several years to become noticeable. Leaf yellowing and drop is most common in the spring but can occur in small quantities throughout the year. Dropping leaves are often a sign of poor health due to improper care.
Olives naturally shed their older leaves in spring april in the uk as new growth begins. While olive trees are able to cope with temperatures that are 10 c and above cold harsh winds can be particularly damaging. If the trees get too much water the leaves may yellow and drop. Extreme wet can cause leaves to drop and may weaken the tree.
Olive trees can also be affected by honey fungus so don t plant in areas where this disease has been found. Of course another reason why a tree would drop leaves is moisture. Olive trees require plenty of bright light. Most leaves only live two or three years.
This type of yellowing and leaf drop should not be alarming unless a disproportionate amount of leaves are affected. Although olive trees are technically evergreens they still shed leaves. If you are keeping your olive tree in a pot the root system has to be able to send nutrients to the tree canopy if you don t prune your olive tree the canopy will grow too big for the pot size the result is leaf drop die back straggly branches and pale magnesium deficient leaves. Also prune out all the leaves and twigs in the center of the tree because they re going to die anyway lack of light and pruning them out in the beginning allows more light to reach the outer areas of the tree.
If you have olive tree topiary such as the niwaki inspired cloud olive then cloud pruning is essential to keep the cloud shape. This is one of the reasons that olive trees should be positions in an area which provide suitable wind protection as freezing temperatures combined with wind can penetrate the bark causing it to split as well as cause leaf drop and dieback. Keeping your potted olive tree in a sunny window will help provide adequate light. But if the tree gets too dry which often happens in the winter when watering is less frequent the leaves will dry out and drop.
This can allow other diseases such as verticillium wilt or phytopthora root rot to take hold. This is actually a lesion produced by the fungus. It only attacks olive trees and only affects trees through the growing season. Olive peacock spot is very common and affects the leaves of olive trees around the world from the uk to australia.