I've had a potted olive for close to 20 years now. They are super easy to grow as container plants. Definitely needs a well-drained, kind of sandy soil. Take some good soil-less potting mix (the peat/perlite stuff, not the cheap, heavy black dirt) and mix about 1/3 play sand into it. The pot can really be what ever size you want -- they're sort of like goldfish in a bowl, IMO, they'll grow to fit the space allotted. Mine is in an 18" square container and has been in the same size for years. It's a bush form, not a standard, and is about 4 feet tall. I whack it WAY back every other year to keep it in bounds, which it seems to like. Just be sure to use a pot that's big enough that it won't need to be watered constantly. Otherwise, in my experience, tragedy can ensue when you forget to water one day.

Bass: I know you go to considerable lengths to grow exotic fruiting trees and plants, but in the case of olives, do you ever actually see fruit on the trees after all the inning and outing, and, if so, is it of any culinary value? Many of the producing olive trees I have seen in Europe are big, gnarly old things that look to be more than 100 years old. We had a fairly large producing age tree in our backyard in Lisbon, Portugal, where winter temps rarely fell below 35 F. But the olives were small, mostly seed, and we never found a use for them. I suppose they could have been pressed for oil, but we weren't set up for that and olive oil was cheap in Portugal at the time. I guess what I am driving at is: Is it really worthwhile to try to grow an olive tree in a northern climate, except as a pet? California is a different story, as it is for many fruits, and an olive tree could, at a minimum, be an attractive and drought resistant addition to a landscape. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Not seeing how major pruning by a contractor every so many years into perpetuity is an economical choice. And if you have turned them into pollards or otherwise severely pruned specimens then the charm of the natural shapes has already been lost - maybe plant some more suitable kinds of trees among them, cut the olive trees out after the new set is of some size. Otherwise they should probably be trimmed frequently, maintained as formal specimens instead of getting whacked back hard at longer intervals. Every time they are forced to regrow most of the top that was present at the time they are drawing on nutrient reserves in the trunks and may be gradually becoming diminished by the repeated assaults. There is also the possibility of trunk decay developing due to the large pruning cuts being made. For planting near swimming pools you want plants with large parts that do not get sucked past filters. As you have described olive trees are probably about as bad a choice as one could come up with.

Ah, I see your problem now. You are going with wussy European plants. Do you know how balmy it is across the pond? You should have planted good American hornbeam...it is rated for a full zone colder then the European version. Also, if you have room for 25 Hornbeam, why are you limiting yourself to tiny things like viburnums? Those are shrubs for people with tiny lots and no space to plant anything decent. You are one of the lucky few who have space for real trees. You should be planting White Oak, American Beech, Sugar Maple, Concolor Fir, Baldcypress. If you hate your country so much, at least go with Norway Spruce. Garden like a man, dammit. <ducks and runs for cover>