Olive Tree on the Porch

[East Bay Amateur]

Hi,

I live in Fremont, CA (10a, 9b). We bought a Majestic Beauty fruitless olive tree originally to plant in our front yard. Having decided to plant a different tree instead, we are now considering keeping the olive tree in a container and placing it on our porch.

The issue is that the we would be placing it on the north side of the porch (the porch faces west). I suspect that the olive tree would only get a few hours of direct sunlight (3 hours?) late in the day.

My question is what will happen to the olive tree if it doesn't get enough sun. We don't want it to flower or fruit, and we don't want it to get bigger. We do want it to stay robust with healthy looking leaves, etc.

Bonus points for recommending a potted shrub/tree for our porch that requires minimal maintenance.

Any help would be appreciated.

Best,
Matt

 

[Beth_B]

Hi.

I'm pretty sure that is not going to be enough sun for an olive tree and it would get leggy, with scant leaves. I imagine the same would go for any fruiting tree, all the ones I can think of require full sun.

How about a Japanese maple tree? There are many varieties, can be grown in containers, very colorful and showy, doesn't need much sun to thrive. (Link is not an endorsement, just an example.)

://www.thetreecenter.com/shade-trees/japanese-maple-trees/