How to Care for a Tea Olive Shrub

Irrigate the tea olive shrub to supplement natural rainfall during the growing season from spring to fall. Although adaptable to both sun and shade as well as any soil type, tea olive falters in bone dry soil and when subjected to soggy ground. It's most important to keep the roots moist for the first year after planting the tea olive into the garden or during severe droughts.

Lay and maintain a 3-inch layer of organic mulch over the root zone of the tea olive. Pine bark, coarse compost or fallen leaves extending from the trunk to 3 to 5 feet beyond the farthest reach of the branch tips helps retain soil moisture. Replenish mulch anytime, as it decomposes to provide roots with nutrients.

Scatter well-balanced slow-release fertilizer in spring and summer according to dosage recommendations on the product label. If you maintain an organic mulch layer around a tea olive, the need for fertilizer is reduced. However, sandy soils do not retain nutrients well, so fertilize annually.

Prune away dead or broken branches any time of year. Use a hand pruners and make cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch above a lower branch junction or leaf.

Shape or shear the branch tips on the upright, oval natural form of a tea olive in mid to late spring. Create a natural silhouette and trim only awkward or long branch tips with hand pruners. Using pruning shears cuts branch tips and surrounding foliage more quickly to shape the shrub, but often results in partially cut or torn-edged leaves. Avoid pruning from midsummer to early spring since you may remove flower buds that are the hallmark feature of the tea olive.