Buyer's guide: how to choose an artificial olive tree

Just like fiddle leaf figs and monstera plants, olive trees are the new it-plant with a beautiful, elegant style which looks great in any interior style. 

Below we’ll dive into how to make an artificial olive tree look real and give you a full run-down of our range of faux olive trees including how to pot, clean and arrange them. Read on!

How to choose an artificial olive tree 

Choosing the right size

The first step to choosing a faux olive tree is to decide which size you need. We have a variety of trees ranging from as little as 39cm tall to a giant 250cm tall, so it’s best to get the measuring tape out and see what would best fit your space. 

Make sure you consider the width of your space as well as the height, as your artificial olive tree won’t look its best if it’s squished in a tight corner. 

You can find the measurements of each of our artificial olive trees on their individual pages, under the ‘details’ tab. 

Small desktop olive trees (90cm tall and under) 

• Olive ball tree

• Tuscan olive tree 

• Mini olive tree 

• Olive bush

Larger standing artificial olive trees (90cm – 180cm tall) 

• Olive ball tree 

• Tuscan olive tree 

• Olive tree 

• Ligurian olive tree

Giant artificial olive trees (Over 180cm tall) 

• Giant olive tree 

• Umbrella olive tree

Style & realism 

The next thing to consider is the style of your faux olive tree. Some of them are similar sizes, but they all offer unique designs and different styles of foliage.  

Below we dive into each of our artificial olive trees including each of their features and unique characteristics as well as where they are best used and the effect they’ll have on your interior style.

Olive bush 

This cute olive bush is the baby of the family. At just 39cm tall and 30cm wide, it sure is little, but it has a big impact as a stylish desk buddy! 

Our olive bush includes realistic olives in both black and green, along with some bushy greenery with both lighter and darker tones to replicate new growth. 

The best way to style your olive bush is to sit it in a pot that matches your interior style and keep it on your desk, sit it on a shelf or a console table.

Mini olive tree

Our mini olive tree is like the big brother to our olive bush. It features a similar foliage style, with roughly the same level of density, along with both types of olives. 

The main difference here is the height. Our mini olive tree measures 65cm tall and along with the extra height comes an authentic natural wood stem to give this tree a highly lifelike appearance. 

With its slightly larger size, the mini olive tree is great for sitting on console tables, in empty windows or side tables. As they share very similar styles, you could create a nice olive tree arrangement by sitting the mini olive tree alongside the olive bush.

Olive ball tree 

The next size up is our olive ball tree. This fella comes in two sizes, 90cm and 120cm tall. 

If you’d like a smaller artificial olive tree to sit on the floor, this is a good starting point and is a popular choice with other customers. 

The foliage on our olive ball tree has the same realistic two-tone feature as our smaller olive trees, but unlike them it has a less silvery colouring, instead sporting deeper green tones. It also has a much fuller head of foliage and a natural wooden stem. 

When it comes to styling your olive ball tree, the 90cm (about 3ft) size looks great when sat on sideboards or low tables and plant stands. The 120cm (about 4ft) size can be sat straight on floor in a nice pot or basket to give off a touch of Mediterranean style.

Tuscan olive tree 

Just like the olive ball tree, our handsome Tuscan olive tree also comes in two sizes - 90cm and 140cm tall. 

Our Tuscan olive tree has a more unique style than the rest of our olive trees. The biggest difference is that its foliage is sparser than the others, giving it quite a light, minimal appearance which works well to offer a splash of colour without overwhelming your space. 

It also includes a sturdy plastic injection-moulded stem which grants the tree a highly authentic shape and texture.  

With its more subdued style, this tree works well in both brightly coloured pots and more neutral planters like wicker and sea grass baskets. The smaller 90cm size is ideal for sitting on large desks or side tables, while the 140cm (about 5ft) size is best used as a floor plant to spruce up empty corners and accentuate your interior.  

We think it best suits light and airy spaces but being faux, it’ll sit happily in full shade too!

Olive tree 

Bushy, versatile and premium quality, the artificial olive tree is one of our most popular choices with lots of lush olive leaves and three top quality natural wood stems. 

Like our olive ball tree, this stylish tree has nice deep green foliage, still offering that two-tone effect for extra realism. It’s one of our bushier olive trees with foliage that extends further down the stems, which means it delivers more greenery to your space. 

At 180cm tall, it’s the starting point for our larger artificial olive trees and being just shy of 6ft, means the artificial olive tree is best used as a floor plant to sit alongside your sofa or to liven up a cold corner. Its simple style also means that it’s well suited to any interior and pot style.

Ligurian olive tree 

The Ligurian olive tree is like our artificial olive tree, at 180cm (about 6ft) tall, but offers a different style. 

This stunning faux olive tree has an injection moulded trunk with a slight bend which gives it an authentic appearance.  

Unlike the artificial olive tree, which has foliage along most of the trunk, the Ligurian olive tree's foliage is mostly all at the top of the tree, sprouting up and out of the top branches, scattered with ripe black pearl olives. 

Again, the beauty of olive trees is that their subtle style means they suit any interior. In particular, we think the Ligurian olive tree looks excellent in a large statement pot and situated as a trendy feature in your interior, but as always, it’ll look healthy wherever you choose to use it. 

Umbrella olive tree 

The umbrella olive tree is one of our largest olive trees at a huge 245cm (8ft) tall. Its grand size is parallel with its quality as this beauty has a real wooden trunk and lots of bushy, detailed foliage of varying tones, along with both green and black olives. 

Due to its large size, this artificial olive tree needs some assembly. The larger branches come loose with screws. They just need securing into the slots in the trunk, and each branch is numbered so you know where it belongs. 

When it comes to styling the umbrella olive tree, we think it works best as a grand feature in a large, open room, where it has space to spread out its branches. The foliage on this giant stands out best against lightly coloured walls as it can get a little lost against dark navy and deep hues. 

It’s best to sit it in a large pot, at least 35-40cm wide to look real - our pure bead pot is a good choice. Alternatively, it looks great in earthy hues and terracotta planters to match its Mediterranean heritage. 

Giant olive tree 

The biggest of the bunch! Our giant artificial olive tree lives up to its name at an enormous 250cm (about 8ft) tall. It’s similar in style to the umbrella olive tree but has a more rounded shape to its top branches and an injection moulded trunk. It’s also at a slightly lower price than the umbrella olive tree, so you can save some pennies to put towards a nice pot! 

This beautiful giant also needs some assembly, but it's slightly easier than the umbrella olive tree, as you don’t need to screw anything in. Just match up the number on the branches to the holes in the trunk and slot them into place. 

Our giant faux olive tree is an impressive feature, ideal for filling an empty corner in a large space in your home or as a majestic centrepiece in large offices, reception areas and other commercial spaces. 

Why are fake olive trees so popular?

Hailing from the Mediterranean, real olive trees love to soak up the sun and need hours of full sunlight to thrive. Sadly, this means that they don’t fair too well when used indoors in the UK, especially when sat in a shady spot. 

An artificial olive tree on the other hand is happy to live anywhere in your interior, be it a dark, shady bathroom or a light and airy hallway, so you won’t have to replace it. 

What’s more, faux olive trees don’t need any watering, pruning, feeding or protecting from pests and disease, instead they’ll look fabulous year after year, saving you time and money in the long run.

Where to place a faux olive tree? 

To make your fake olive tree look real and trick your visitors into thinking you're actually a very good plant parent, you’ll need to sit your fake olive tree somewhere indoors with some natural sunlight where its beauty can shine. That means avoiding dark, shady corners! 

Of course, being the proud owner of a fake olive tree means you can keep it wherever you like, and it will still look great. So, if you’d like to brighten a gloomy bedroom, be our guest! 

Typically, false olive trees make great additions to entrances and hallways, living rooms and home offices where they can deliver timeless, elegant style.

Choosing a pot for your faux olive tree

Like their natural siblings, the foliage on artificial olive trees is simple but effortlessly chic. Because of their simple, classic beauty, they tend to suit pots and planters in any style, so you can use the pot to achieve a particular theme or trend. 

For smaller faux olive trees, we’d recommend either our vibes fold pots, or our range of jazz planters. These both come in a range of colours to match your interior and feature textured patterns. 

For a more subtle look, turn to our Brussels round plant pot, which features a simple style in either black, white or anthracite. 

If you choose a larger or giant olive tree, you’ll instead need to look for pots at least 30cm wide. Anything smaller will look unrealistic, as a natural plant needs space for its roots to grow. 

If you’d like something bold and colourful, our vibes plant pot is available in a 30cm size with a choice of colours. Or you could opt for our pink pure bead pot to provide a stable base for your tree. 

On the simpler end, our vibia plant pot is a great choice, along with our vivo square planter, available in shades of black, grey and white. 

Don’t worry if you can’t decide, when you add one of our artificial olive trees to your basket, we’ll recommend some suitable pots to fit your tree. 

How to re-pot an artificial olive tree

Once your olive tree is delivered, it’s best to pot your tree first before you start arranging, especially if your tree needs some assembly. 

1. To re-pot your artificial olive tree, sit your tree and its included starter pot, inside of your new, larger pot. Please don’t try to remove the included starter pot, as this is designed to act as a stable base for your tree and could damage it. 

1. If you need to, you can add some soil or stones underneath your tree to raise it up slightly.   

1. Fill in the gaps with soil, sand or stones so your tree is secure and weighed down.  

1. To add some extra authenticity, sprinkle some moss around the base of your tree. 

For more advice, read our guide to potting artificial plants. 

How to clean a fake olive tree 

To keep your artificial plants spic and span, it’s best to include it as part of your usual cleaning routine. As the leaves are quite small, the easiest way to clean them is to use a feather duster or blow away any dust with a hairdryer on a cool setting. 

For more tips, read our full guide on how to clean artificial plants. 

How to shape an artificial olive tree

Once you’ve found the perfect home for your new plant pal, it’s well worth taking a moment to properly arrange your olive tree. 

To keep your tree safe in the post, the foliage will be packed tightly in its box. This means that you’ll need to spread out the branches to make it big and bushy, just like a real olive tree. 

If you’ve chosen one of our giant artificial olive trees which requires assembling, you’ll likely find it easier to arrange the individual branches before slotting them into position. 

Simply bend out each stem and straighten the leaves until you’re happy with the look. Try adding slight curves to the branches to give them a more natural look. 

For more help, read our guide to arranging artificial plants. 

Need more helping choosing an artificial olive tree? 

Find our full range of artificial olive trees or get in touch with us with any questions. 

Alternatively, discover more guidance and inspiration.