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Olive & thyme

chat2elenachat2elena Posts: 22
in Problem solving
I’ve got a mature olive tree that ive grown in a pot for years. It’s enveloped by a thyme bush. Now we’ve moved to a house with a bigger garden I’d like to put them in the ground. Will the soil and feed advised for the olive tree be suitable for the thyme? They’ve been happy pot fellows and I’m not sure i can untangle them. Thank you for any advice - Helena

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  • chat2elenachat2elena Posts: 22

  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 23,471
    edited October 2018
    I think your biggest problem are going to be getting the rootball out of that pot - probably have to break or cut the pot - and making sure you gather up and dispose of that sluga nd all its mates in there before letting them loos in the new garden.

    Other than that, they are both Mediterranean plants and like sunshine, well drained soils and protection from very cold UK winds so just make sure you prepare the new planting hole well and plant at the right depth then water well till established.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • chat2elenachat2elena Posts: 22
    😄 just seen the snail in the photo!
    Thank you, I think I will have to cut it out. Got builders in the house so maybe they’ve got a way to do that!
    I was worried that if I feed the olive which the rhs recommends, the thyme might not like it as I always thought they prefer poor soil.
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 23,471
    I don't think thymes object to good feeding but they don't like being wet.

    Having said that, your thyme does look particularly scruffy and bare-leged so, unless it has huge sentimental value, I'd rip it all way and buy a new one or three next spring and plant them in a separate herb bed or planter.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Bath, SomersetPosts: 6,571
    I agree with Obelixx, the thyme ought to go.
  • chat2elenachat2elena Posts: 22
    Yes it is partly sentimental (I’ve had it for over a decade) but it’s also a lot better than it looks in the photo.That’s the back of the pot that was against the fence and after a trim. 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Bath, SomersetPosts: 6,571
    Well in that case, try to save them both. If you can get them out of the pot, wash any remaining soil off and then see if you can gently disentangle the thyme roots from the olive ones. I should imagine the thyme roots will be thin and wiry, the olive ones bigger and woodier. Good luck!
  • chat2elenachat2elena Posts: 22
    Thanks
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