I'm no expert but a few months ago a local garden centre donated a mature olive tree to the town, to be placed on the main roundabout as one enters. They installed it themselves amid the expected glare of publicity and I can't imagine they'd have gone to that trouble if it was likely to fail miserably (W Cork). I therefore suppose it will depend how 'mature' your youngsters are.
Mature trees can easily withstand temperatures down to about -10° C. Younger trees are a little more sensitive and would not appreciate their roots being frozen if grown in a pot. If you can, move the plant to a porch, greenhouse or unheated summerhouse from mid December to mid March.
If the pot is too big to move, protect the soil with something like a wrap of hessian sacking around polystyrene, and use a strong fleece over the branches when bitingly cold winds are forecast.
Good news is that I have had made a giant cover of Terram to go over my very big terracotta pot containing an evergreen agapanthus. Doing that is now a virtual guarantee winter will be mild.
This is the advice from our local olive nursery. Their advice of a September to May purdah is somewhat excessive and have admitted that when I have spoken to them. I don’t move my tree under cover until early January for the simple reason it gets decorated with lights at Christmas. However I would move it if extended snow or heavy frosts were forecast.
Mine's about 4 years old, more of a bush than a tree, in a large terracotta pot by the front door. I don't bother to wrap it up in the winter any more but push the pot under the roof overhang in the corner. We are though in South West England and our winters are usually mild.
I'm no expert but a few months ago a local garden centre donated a mature olive tree to the town, to be placed on the main roundabout as one enters. They installed it themselves amid the expected glare of publicity and I can't imagine they'd have gone to that trouble if it was likely to fail miserably (W Cork). I therefore suppose it will depend how 'mature' your youngsters are.
Cork is pretty mild compared to most of the UK. My OH's auntie lives near Cork (but inland) and leaves pelargoniums outside all year.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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Good news is that I have had made a giant cover of Terram to go over my very big terracotta pot containing an evergreen agapanthus. Doing that is now a virtual guarantee winter will be mild.
This is the advice from our local olive nursery. Their advice of a September to May purdah is somewhat excessive and have admitted that when I have spoken to them. I don’t move my tree under cover until early January for the simple reason it gets decorated with lights at Christmas. However I would move it if extended snow or heavy frosts were forecast.
https://www.olivegroveoundle.co.uk/4-tips-care-olive-tree-autumn-winter/
Cork is pretty mild compared to most of the UK. My OH's auntie lives near Cork (but inland) and leaves pelargoniums outside all year.