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California Gardening

Planting an Olive & Lemon Tree near a pool

11 years ago

Im very new to gardening etc. Ive decided to plant 2 trees in my backyard. They will each by about 7 to 8 feet away from the pool. I'm sure the lemon tree will be fine - but Im questioning my choice regarding the olive tree. Does anyone know how big to expect it to get? Will the roots interfere at all with the pool? I wouldnt want to have problems down the line. I havent *yet* planted it and could change it to a different tree (a lime etc). This is in Bay Area Ca.

Any suggestions are great thanks!

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Comments (3)

hosenemesis
11 years ago
Welcome to gardening!

I'll be a bit blunt here, and maybe others will disagree, but I don't think either of those trees are good choices for your situation. Here's why.

When you say 7-8' away from the pool, do you mean the trunk will be that close or the edge of the tree canopy will be that close to the pool? That is not far enough away if you mean the trunk. You may be able to find citrus trees on true dwarf root stock that would be okay, but the canopy of a fully grown citrus tree is wider than fourteen feet, and they drop leaves. Can you plant the tree farther away?

The olive tree gets far too large to consider it as a possibility. The trunks rise and would impact your decking, and it would be a disaster for your filtration system. They drop a lot of tiny white flowers and yellow pollen. If you got a fruiting olive you would have a purple-stained deck and pool and be bobbing for olives every time you took a swim. They also require a great deal of pruning.

The Sunset Western Garden book has a section on trees suitable for planting around pools. You might want to take a look at it to see if anything strikes your fancy. It sounds like you are interested in a Mediterranean theme for your back yard, which will be lovely. Good luck with your project.

Renee
Sara Malone Zone 9b
11 years ago
The only olive that you might consider (I agree with Renee's comments above) is Olea europaea 'Montra', sold as Little Ollie. It is a dwarf form introduced by Monrovia and supposedly tops out at 4-6'. I think it is more likely 8', but in any case it is much smaller than the other O. europaea varieties, and can be grown easily in containers or in the ground. Some people grow them as shrub forms, others prune them to single or multi-trunked trees. So if you want the Mediterranean look of olives, these would work. They are readily available here in Sonoma County. Otherwise, take a look a the list that Renee suggests.
Sara
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If you have any paving, Carrotwood and Podocarpus are both pavement lifters/busters. Podocarpus is one of my favorite trees, but they have massive root systems. Italian Cypress, but planted strategically to screen your neighbor's windows, rather than as a "Fort Cupressus" hedge. No bees on those. The Sunset Western Garden Book has a "What to Plant Near Swimming Pools" section. Every library in California usually has a copy if you don't want to buy one. The fruitless olive still blooms, it just does not produce fruit. The flowers may still attract bees.
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Kstevens09
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow - you guys have been very helpful! Yes, I was doing more research and realized the Olive Tree was just a bad idea. I did buy one (with the lemon tree). I was still planning to move forward with the lemon tree but I think I will take what you said into consideration and check out that book. We havent planted yet (luckily) I will post an update with what we ended up doing :-) Also - regarding distance - I may be wrong, maybe its farther than that - Im going to measure it tonight.

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