Autumn Olive
Ornamental Shrub Attractive to Wildlife
The Autumn Olive is an ornamental shrub that is great for wildlife. Plant a few in a naturalized area of your landscape, or one in a sunny location of the yard where you can enjoy watching it progress through the seasons.
There are several outstanding advantages of having an Autumn Olive in your yard, not least of which is that it’s an incredibly beautiful plant. The leaves are 3-inches long and lance-shaped, creating a full and healthy appearance throughout the summer. Its bark is grey, but almost every other part of it is graced with silvery flakes. You’ll soon see that the silver effect is quite stunning, especially when its shimmering brilliance is captured by the morning sun.
In the spring your Autumn Olive will be one of the first plants to leaf out. Once the leaves have made their appearance, tiny yellow flowers will appear. You’ll certainly appreciate how the lovely blooms decorate your spring landscape, but it’s the heavenly scent that will most impress. Even just one Autumn Olive in the yard is enough to infuse the entire area with its intoxicating aroma.
In the fall, your Autumn Olive produces ½ inch berries. As with most parts of your plant, the fruits are sprinkled with silvery highlights, an alluring contrast to their rich burgundy color. Your berries will persist on the shrub into late winter, providing a beneficial supplement to your winter wildlife’s diet
Your Autumn Olive’s berries aren’t just for the wildlife. They are a delicious sweet-tart treat rich in vitamins. They are even higher in lycopene than tomatoes, which have been shown to promote prostrate health.
Autumn Olive is a multi-stemmed, branching shrub that grows to about 15 feet tall. It thrives in the sun but will tolerate shade and almost any soil conditions. In fact, its roots have nitrogen-fixing symbiants so it is often used to help with poor soils.
The Autumn Olive is an amazing shrub. Beautiful, hardy and beneficial on many levels, the Autumn Olive is an outstanding addition to almost any landscape.
* Unusual silver highlights
* Spring scented flowers
* Fall edible berries
* Advantages for wildlife
* Hardy
Customer Reviews
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Invasive plant Review by Mike
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True, they are fast growing, true they do form a dense thicket, true the birds love the berries..BUT the local forester recommended that we try to eliminate the shrub. The shrub is very invasive and is a non-native species. The birds pass the seeds to new areas and spreads. Our property is in northern Pennsylvania. We have it expanding rapidly through a successional field and plan to get rid of the autumn olive shrub and replace it with something like high bush cranberry. I am by no means an expert in this field, thats why we had a forester come in. H e said we can cut it and spray the stump with a strong roundup or gly-phosphate base chemical. (Posted on 10/9/11)
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whatever you do, DON'T!!! Review by fkulp
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This plant is super invasive. In Maryland, it is considered an invasive species that "negatively impacts native species." They will take over the place. They can be seen along the side the other road covered in vines from Columbia (central Maryland) to Hagerstown (western Maryland) (there is more than 70 miles between the two cities). According to the USDA, the Autumn Olive is banned in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire; in West Virginia it is considered a noxious (physically harmful or destruction to living beings) weed. If this plant is just planted in your lawn, it will still spread. Birds eat the berries which spread them to other places in your state.Do your part to protect the environment. Do NOT buy this plant. Buy more native plants to your state. The Autumn Olive is NOT native to any state in the US. (Posted on 6/23/08)
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great trees Review by dog man
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I planted 4 of these trees 18 months ago, then they were 24in. "sticks" now they are 8ft. tall Are already covered with fruit.My wife and I love to sit in the kitchen or on the rear porch and watch them blow in the breeze. The silvery look is so pretty. I will be adding several more to my yard. I highly recommend this tree. (Posted on 10/17/07)
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WHITEFOX55 Review by WHITEFOX55
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WE HAVE A LARGE HEDGE OF AUTUMN OLIVES THAT GIVES US PRIVICY ALL SUMMER LONG FROM THE ROAD. TEN TO TWENTY FEET TALL AND SWEET SMELLING FLOWERS WE ENJOY.WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF VOLLENTEERS ON THE FARM PLUS AROUND THE AREA. WE HAVE MADE DELICIOUS JELLY FROM THE FRUIT. THE JELLY MAKES US TWEET LIKE THE BIRDS. (Posted on 10/17/07)
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ok but Review by JJ
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grows too fast sending out long branches which grow 10 feet or more before I can get around to prune them. (Posted on 10/17/07)
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Autumn Olive as Focus Review by GardenArt
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I planted one in front garden for privacy. I have pruned it to be a multi stemmed small tree. Pretty in all seasons, trunks and stems have nice winter interest. Have not had a problem with infestation or sucker growth. (Posted on 10/17/07)
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Lovely but needy Review by tony p
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The people before me put these in as a front hedge, so I kept them pruned and only 6-7 feet high. The yellow flowers bloomed around Mothers Day with a lovely sulphur-sweet smell, a perfect complement to lilacs if you have some. I would cut them back on Memorial Day to keep them neat, then again on Labor Day. Fruit is nice and the leaves do have a pleasant look as stated in the blub. I would get this plant again, but put in a place you can let it grow (Posted on 10/17/07)
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Don't!! Review by peepsmom
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Anyone with any sense would never willingly plant this! My husband and I own 100 acres in an area that was mined a few years ago. The olive was considered a wonderful reclaiming tool. It spread quickly and got the job done. It did. Its everywhere. You cut it, it grows back three times as big. You spray it, only the branches you sprayed will die, not the whole thing. If you pull it up, it will come back from a tiny piece of root.
The larger specimens have long woody thorns on the lower branches. The leaves have some sort of flaky material on their undersides which will leave you choking and gasping for breath if you inhale too much. There are so many berries that even if you do succeed in ridding your property of it, and you wont, the birds will happily bring more seeds in for you to battle next spring! Also, some states have banned the sale of this plant with others pending. (Posted on 10/17/07)
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