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Olive Tree Guild

 
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I'm looking to plant a guild under an olive tree and am interested in some ideas for plants that would resist olive's allelopathic properties.  Thanks!
 
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Currants, rasberries, gooseberries, etc. might work. I have not tried this myself, but since these work under walnut trees (allelopathic) they should work there too.
 
pollinator
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lavender grows under the olive orchards here
 
                        
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I remember visiting Capistrano years ago and was surprised to find that the nun's were growing vegetables in the courtyard under the olive trees.  There were also roses.  The courtyard was very sunny and the trees were widely spaced.

Also as I remember there was not a lot of leafy cover -- the nuns may have pruned out the olives to let in more light.
 
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Being honest here, I've never heard of Olives suppressing growth chemically, Autumn Olives yes, but not real olives. Does anyone know what chemical means they are supposed to use?
 
steward
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Emerson White wrote:
Does anyone know what chemical means they are supposed to use?



I've seen reference to phenolic compounds in olive oil inhibiting germination.  if that's the case, collecting all the fruit should solve the problem.  I suppose not relying on direct seeding would do the trick, as well.
 
                    
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In my olive grove I have rosemary, lavender, thymus, oregano, artichoke, lemongrass beneath olives. They also love the company of almonds and figs.
 
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I have just visited a wonderful Olive Farm locally and bought 10 olive trees..... MISSION and FRANTOIO I know the Mission to be a lovely eating olive and the Frantoio is said to give tons of oil.

kasl wrote:
In my olive grove I have rosemary, lavender, thymus, oregano, artichoke, lemongrass beneath olives. They also love the company of almonds and figs.

I am glad to read that lavender works well with olives because it grows so easily here.... I will try your other suggestions. I have dug the holes already but am hesitating to plant. We are entering winter here and this could put them at risk if we get a bit of frost? What do you think?

I was told to add 1 kg bonemeal per tree. Is there any other planting advice when doing it permie style? How close can you grow these other plants.... right up against? I was told they need tons of sun. We have excellent sun here but they really seem to need lots? Not be shaded in any way....

Thanks in advance,
Chelle

Chelle
 
                    
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Chelle Lewis wrote:

I am glad to read that lavender works well with olives because it grows so easily here.... I will try your other suggestions. I have dug the holes already but am hesitating to plant. We are entering winter here and this could put them at risk if we get a bit of frost? What do you think?

I was told to add 1 kg bonemeal per tree. Is there any other planting advice when doing it permie style? How close can you grow these other plants.... right up against? I was told they need tons of sun. We have excellent sun here but they really seem to need lots? Not be shaded in any way....



In my experience they do better if planted during winter, though in my area the minimum winter temperatutre rarely drops below zero.  The summers are hot and arid here and chances are they wouldn't survive the drought.

When planting, I just stick them in the ground without adding anything in the soil (clay soil over here), and put some donkey manure on top of the soil. After that I just toss above it whatever I cut around.  My favorite planting combination is almond or fig behind and higher than the olive and punica granatum or Zizyphus zizyphus (sorry don't know the english names) in front of and lower than the olive respective to the sunlight directon.

Wild asparagus is also a great plant to have in the olive grove delicious and very healthy asks nothing, likes stress.
 
Chelle Lewis
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Thanks kasl  I looked up punica granatum... is pomegranate... to wonderful. I have 2 trees and I think I will try and get some going off of them to put there too.

I also looked up Zizyphus zizyphus ..... is the Jujube... that is a plant that has interested me for some time, I will see if I can get it too to add to my guild.

Ziziphus Jujuba is a fruit found in the hills and mountains of India. Its medicinal benefits are mentioned in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine.This article tries to gain further insight on this herbal fruit.

Knowledge Gained from Research about Zizuphus Jujuba:

    * The component ziziphin, found in this herb is a Triterpene Saponin Glycoside.
    * Triterpene Saponin Glycosides (TSGs) are chemical compounds with healing properties.
    * Betulinic acid is a component which protects the cells in the body from virus.
    * It has anti- inflammatory and anti-malarial properties.
    * It is recently discovered as a potential anticancer agent too.
    * Japanese research has proved that this herb can improve liver functions.

Benefits of different parts of Ziziphus Jujuba:

The Leaves:

The leaves of this herb are astringent. It means that the leaves can narrow the blood vessels in the tissue and stop bleeding.They can reduce fever and prvent hair loss too.

The Seeds:

The seeds can induce sleep, reduce anxiety and prevent stomachache. Treatment of palpitations, nervous exhaustion and excessive perspiration is also possible using them. They prevent nausea and abdominal pain in pregnancy.

The Roots:

The root is dried and powdered. It is used in the treatment of fevers and dyspepsia. When the powder is applied on wounds and ulcers,they heal quickly.

The Fruits:

The dried fruits purify the blood and help in digestion. They are found beneficial in the treatment of hysteria, anemia, chronic fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and irritability.

The Barks:

The barks is made into a bitter decoction and taken to get relief from gingivitis. Paste made from the bark can be applied on sores. Juice prepared from the root bark is said to provide relief from rheumatism and gout.

Found here...... Excellent addition to the guild.......

Almond and fig I can do too.... really neat. I'll have to look into wild asparagus. Sounds like another must-have.

I have been asking around and the agreement seems to be for winter planting. I was just told to hold off till August when no threat of frost. We rarely drop below zero too but I think we will get cold enough for fruiting because the farm I bought them from is getting good fruiting and it is not far from here.

Much thanks!
Chelle
 
pollinator
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I've read purslane is a good groundcover in the olive guild, although there are lots of options in the portulaca family that might be better-adapted or tastier.

Chickens are definitely worth considering, I've heard they get a lot out of olive fruit & pits.
 
Chelle Lewis
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I love purslane.... extremely rich in omega 3... amazingly so. And I just happen to have dug the holes for the olive trees near the foundations for the chickens... haha! Definitely looking good....... 

Thanks Joel.

Chelle
 
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Emerson White wrote:
Being honest here, I've never heard of Olives suppressing growth chemically, Autumn Olives yes, but not real olives. Does anyone know what chemical means they are supposed to use?



Oleuropein is one chemical of note in olive. The only reference I found to allelopathic effects of oleuropein was from jasmine, and it inhibited some seeds from germinating and slowed cell division in onion root cells. Olive is loaded with that compound, and it isn't just in the fruit... the leaves are rich in it, the roots contain it also (not sure how much).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20199861
 
                                
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Looking at the natural guilds that develope in the wild with the olive or its relations might give you reliable guidance.

In VA/NC there are some native members of the OLIVE Olea europaea L. of Oleaceae has Related Species: Wild Olive (Olea africana), Oleaster (O. europaea var. oleaster) and native relatives of Distant Affinity: American Olive (Osmanthus americana), Fragrant Olive (O. fragrans).

From what I recall of the flowers I think they are related to the native haw (not haw viburnam or hawthorn)  and Autumn Olive / Russian Olive. Elaeagnus umbellata / Elaeagnus angustifolia (Oleaster Family).

I was hoping to experiment with raising olives myself but it appears to be impossible: http://www.ehow.com/how_6081550_grow-olive-trees-south.html
 
                      
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Hi, we will be doing a minor permablitz in a city garden soon (mostly sheet mulching the jungle of weeds) which happens to already have an olive tree. I think lavender is one of the plants we can try out there which the garden owners will enjoy. Can anyone say whether one plants the lavender on the drip line of the olive or inside it? There is already a rose bush that needs taming right next to it. We are in Mediterranean climate.

Thanks in advance
 
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The seven species of Israel were olives, pomegranates, figs, dates, grapes, wheat and barley. They should all do well in your guild.
 
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Emerson White wrote:Being honest here, I've never heard of Olives suppressing growth chemically, Autumn Olives yes, but not real olives. Does anyone know what chemical means they are supposed to use?



Yep, I have never read about, nor have I experienced Olive trees having any allelopathy, at all.  


Someone mentioned Ribes and Rubis spp under Olived. No, not a good guild. Reason being Olives are a hot, dryland tree requiring zero water and disliking nitrogen. Ribes and Rubus are cold humid mostly temperate plants, though many areas have their own adapted species; still, they love cool moist shade.

Great partner plants in Olive guilds, in my experience, are plants that also grow well in that Mediterranean kind of climate: Oregano, Marjoram, Lavender, Sages of all sorts, dryland Asters, Yarrow, and an interesting plant called “Olivada” (dittrichia viscosa) which apparently helps to repel the Olive fruit fly (a big concern in California and Europe, and any olive growing area).
I’m not sure regarding bulbs what would work well w/ Olives as I haven’t tried them yet. But I suspect any dryland bulb especially from the Middle East might work in the shade parts—maybe Saffron crocus? Also chives?

I did read recently, much to my surprise, that the nightshade family should never be planted with Olive trees as the Olive roots can’t take whatever chemical/alkaloid/etc the nightshades give off.
This was a bummer as Goji berry was a dryland drought tolerant bush I was wanting to plant with or near my Olive trees.

If anyone knows anything or has had experience with this, I’d appreciate learning what you know. 🙏
 
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Russell Hatfield wrote:Looking at the natural guilds that develope in the wild with the olive or its relations might give you reliable guidance.

In VA/NC there are some native members of the OLIVE Olea europaea L. of Oleaceae has Related Species: Wild Olive (Olea africana), Oleaster (O. europaea var. oleaster) and native relatives of Distant Affinity: American Olive (Osmanthus americana), Fragrant Olive (O. fragrans).

From what I recall of the flowers I think they are related to the native haw (not haw viburnam or hawthorn)  and Autumn Olive / Russian Olive. Elaeagnus umbellata / Elaeagnus angustifolia (Oleaster Family).

        —/:/:/——///:/—::://—-

Absolutely not. Not related even distantly.

Russian Olive/Autumn Olive/Eleagnus are all in the Rhamnus family -Rhamnaceae- the Buckthorn types. These are nitrogen fixing woody plants that have species all over the world adapted to many different climates and are great pioneer plants. Going farther back to order, these are in the Rosid group.

By contrast Olives are in the Olivaceae and include Jasmines, Privet (!), Forsythiae, etc. And going farther back are in the Mint/Aster grouping.  They are not at all nitrogen fixing. And they are not pioneer plants.  

These could not be farther apart as far as relatives.

 
tuffy monteverdi
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kasl McCoy Wrote:

Wild asparagus is also a great plant to have in the olive grove delicious and very healthy asks nothing, likes stress.

             —/:/:/—-/:::/—-/—

Really cool!
I love the idea of wild asparagus!!
Are you in a very dry area? Do wild asparagus need water?
Do you have to deal with gophers?? That’s been a challenge for us with vegetables planted under trees.

We do not water our olives and I’m always looking for vegetables that can handle this, to plant nearby.
I’ve tried artichoke also, which works great! But, there is too much dormant dead dry stuff in the dry season (too much fire risk for me).
 
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I have wild asaparagus plants popping up everywhere on the terraces of my olive farm. which used to be heavily cultivated.
The soil is silt, temps over 40 degrees celcius in summer is normal, in winter we go below the freezing point. This year, we have had around 200mm of rain so far (we are in desperate need of more, the normal rainfall is around 350 mm a year...)
Wild asapargus does not care at all :-)
Quite a spiky plant though!
 
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You don't want to have big bushes under your trees as it makes harvest a struggle.
I would recommend leguminoses for nov-april and portulac as a summer coverage. Leguminoses work well with olive chip mulch (also fresh) and gets cut before summer. Portulac can handle the harshest hot conditions, grows very shallow and catches morning dew in the summer. It keeps the soil cooler and dies off in autumn.
 
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