- Author: Janet Snyder
Do you have an olive tree, Olea europaea, in your landscape? We do - a 'Kalamata' olive. It's a beautiful evergreen tree that, once established, requires very little water. The pollen can be highly allergenic. Ten years ago, we brought it home from the Vacaville Home and Garden Show. It was a spindly little stick, not more than ten inches tall from root ball to tip. We were excited at the prospect of harvesting our own olives and curing them with a method my husband read about that used only water and salt instead of lye. Let me say, LOTS of water and salt. We planted it in the back portion of our vegetable garden, about two feet from the fence line. No, I was not a master gardener ten years ago, or I would have known to plant it farther from the fence.
Over the years, it's grown to about 20+ feet tall. Since then, that vegetable garden has been relocated to accommodate a swimming pool, the size of which was dictated by the location of the olive tree. My husband and I are out there pruning the tree a few times a year to keep it from hanging over the neighbor's yard. In the spring, the yellow pollen from the tree coats the patio and chairs in a thick yellow dust. From now until January, I am constantly picking up dropped olives to alleviate staining of the concrete. And the olives we were going to cure? Haven't eaten a single one. On the upside, the tree provides a terrific area of shade to sit under, and lends a distinctively Mediterranean atmosphere to the backyard. It is a beautiful tree.
So what have I learned from this tree? Two feet between a tree and a fence is nowhere near enough. Curing olives takes time and patience. Even though olive trees grow well in Solano County, don't plant them near a pool!
Don't put a pool next to an olive tree.
- Author: Edward Walbolt
One of my favorite seasons of the year is getting near. Early spring is the time for colorful bulbs to emerge from hibernation and announce that spring has sprung. That always seems to rejuvenate and motivate the inner gardener in me. I have been anxious to see the first signs of growth in the form of green shoots and bracts gently emerging on my ornamentals and trees. My mom and I typically place a friendly wager on what the date will be when one of us will see the first blossoms emerge around town. The down side of all of the new growth is the yellowish-green powder coating car wind shields and streets, generally creating havoc for Solano County allergy sufferers. This year we have had an unusually sunny winter and our rain totals are well below the averages for our region. All the sun we have had is certain to develop the blossoms earlier than normal this year and I am excited that I might get to work in my garden earlier in the year than I am accustomed to. The sun has been shining for the past month and my springtime mentality is starting to get geared up. I have to remind myself that we are still a couple of months away from our traditional spring season and we could very well experience several more frosts between now and that time. Something about the sun shining makes me almost willing to risk planting some of my favorites 2 months ahead of schedule. I have thought better of it so far but if the sun continues to shine in February I’m not certain how long I can remain patient before I get outside and get my hands dirty.