How to Grow a European Olive Skylark Tree

Dig a hole for a container-grown Skylark in the spring. Make the hole roughly the same size as the container. Do not amend the soil because the tree needs to acclimate to the natural soil. If you create rich soil in the immediate planting area, you might limit how the roots spread out in the ground.

Remove the tree from the container and transfer it to the prepared hole. Situate the tree so the crown is even with the surrounding soil level. Backfill the hole with soil until you fill it in completely and tamp the soil down firmly with your hands.

Water the Skylark immediately after planting it to saturate the soil completely.

Add mulch around the tree to conserve soil moisture and prevent weed growth. Keep the mulch about four inches away from the center trunk and make it 3 to 4 inches thick.

Monitor the soil moisture carefully during the first growing season while the tree is establishing. Provide water for the tree whenever the soil becomes dry, saturating the soil fully. After the first growing season ends, the tree should be established enough to withstand dryer conditions without supplemental irrigation.

Remove any weeds that appear within three feet of the center trunk. Pull the weeds manually or cultivate the soil shallowly with a hand rake.

Pull back the mulch the second spring after the tree begins actively growing again. Sprinkle 1 to 2 inches of aged compost over the soil and work it in gently with the hand rake. Replenish the mulch over the compost again.

Prune the skylark minimally during the first four growing seasons, only removing suckers that appear around the trunk. Beginning with the fifth growing season, shape the tree each spring by removing up to one-third of the outer growth of the branches.

Expect that the Skylark will begin bearing fruit from the fifth growing season forward, although there might be years when it does not produce at all. Harvest olives when the juices become slightly cloudy.