New Western Weeping Olive Tree developed on Santa Margarita Ranch

Shane Hayward; Blair Shurtleff, Inventor; Craig Wilson, GGF Farm Manager; Wayne Tyo, Mollie Field, and Barry Johnson, TMHA Division Director.

The Western Weeping Olive Fruitless Tree, developed on the Central Coast, was recently US Patent Approved. There are over 800 million olive trees currently growing in the world and now one unique tree from San Luis Obispo County is available.

The new tree was invented and developed in the historic Santa Margarita Ranch Area. According to the inventor, Blair Shurtleff, there has not been a new olive tree to come along that has all of the great qualities of olives such as drought tolerant, multi or single trunk, beautiful bark, able to withstand temperatures of extreme highs and periods of low teens.

Shurtleff has spent 18 years growing this tree, putting it through 6 formal years of rigorous testing in a licensed and secure testing facility, used one of the finest plant patent attorneys, John Peck, KPPB, of Newport Beach California. Typically, trial periods for plant patents usually only last 2-3 years.

“I have spent years online researching every olive tree, olive tree nurseries, worldwide Plant Breeding and Patent offices to guarantee that there is no other olive tree like this in the world,” said Shurtleff. “This is the first new ornamental olive tree patent to come along in over 20 years and it was developed right here on the Central Coast.”

“I have collected trees from all over the world and I set out to find something different,” said Shurtleff. “Unique plants have always been my passion and this invention will change the olive tree landscape market. This is the most unique and spectacular tree to enter the market in years!”

Shurtleff, a horticulturalist and the inventor of this new weeping olive was a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo major in Ornamental Horticulture/Fruit Science in the 70s and is a long time resident of this county.

How is the tree special?

It weeps: Long, flexible weeping habit with 6′ (when mature) weeping structure. It cascades. The branches shoot straight up then after a few months turn and grow down.

Next to no leaf drop: Very few leaves ever drop from this tree. There is next to no clean up. This is also excellent for landscape plants in fire prone areas.

The leaf color: The Western Weeping Olive Tree leaf has a deep, dark green and SMOOTH top side with the soft grey ‘olive color’ underside. It will shimmer in the wind.

The leaf size: Over twice the leaf size of all other olive trees.

Fruitless: All of the Western Weeping Olive Trees set no olives but a rare few set some ‘shot berries,’ a very immature fruit that never matures or drops on the ground, dry, so no hazards or mess! This is the only fruitless olive under patent in the world.

Care: The olive requires little care and can be left natural for life. It can be pruned and shaped for patio trees or can be laced to enhance the weeping characteristics. Needs little fertilizer and always has its rich, dark green leaves, with beautiful olive color undersides. Grows in the same soil mix as all other olives. Grows in zones 8-11.

High wind resistant: Tested in 70-80 mph winds with no leaf loss, no branches broken and little leaf tear.

Deer resistant: These trees were tested with and against five other varieties of olives and scored number one in deer resistance. The deer normally left the Western Weeping completely alone but on some consumed some leaves or few leaf tips never to touch again. These trees were tested in extreme deer conditions.

Landscape uses: Line driveways, parkways, shopping centers, wineries, plant collectors, windbreaks, privacy barriers, Parking lots, commercial developments, by pools and walkways.

A grand release is available to Central Coast residents at wholesale prices $14 to $150 per tree. June 1st & 2nd at Growing Grounds 3740 Orcutt Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 9am -4pm. Thirty-percent of the proceeds go to Transitions Mental Health.

For more information about the tree, contact Blair Shurtleff at 805.602.7321 or getblair@mac.com or visit http://theweepingolive.com/.

creig p. sherburne

AtAscAdero News

Blair Shurtleff has done what few North County residents has. He invented a tree.

And it’s not just any tree. Its inventor said it’s a tree chalk-full of benefits and precious few detractors.

Called the Western Weeping Fruitless Ol- ive, it’s exactly what it sounds like: an olive tree that bears no fruit but grows in a pattern similar to that of the weeping willow.

Shurtleff said that since it bears no fruit, it makes no mess. Additionally, the leaves stay on the limbs year round and resist falling off even in 70 mph winds. He said that for some reason, deer don’t eat it.

“So this is a showy, beautiful tree that’s fruitless,” Shurtleff said. “It grows up then begins growing down again, like a fountain.”

He said that the tree is more than two de- cades in the making, and was inspired by trips to a shopping mall as a youth.

“There was an outdoor shopping mall with olive trees planted,” he said. “The fruit would drop and people would slip.”

Shurtleff was a Cal Poly landscape hor- ticulture student, but had trouble graduating. The problem, he said, was that there were always more interesting classes he wanted to take.

“I just kept taking more and more courses,” he said with a laugh. “I wanted to be able to landscape, grow, build greenhouses — just everything with horticulture. There was just so much to learn about plants.”

He took all that knowledge and began collecting olive trees from all over the world. Friends would bring samples back with them from vacations, he’d go on olive tree trips and a massive collection was planted in a small ranch within Santa Margarita Ranch.

The idea, when creating a new tree, Shurtleff said, is not to genetically modify it — he’s vehemently against genetically mod- ified anything, he said — but to encourage naturally occurring mutations. He said ap- ple growers are an excellent example of this. Growers wait and wait for a new, freak apple that’s larger and sweeter. Sometimes that ap- ple shows up and it’s bred into a new product. That’s how it went with the weeping olive.

“We had a huge windstorm and all the

other trees broke, leaving this one shining up,” he said.

He patented it in 2012 and is now working on selling the tree first throughout the Central Coast.

“I love when people say ‘oh, this is a Cen- tral Coast product,’” Shurtleff said. “I’ve been in this county for 40 years. It’s grown, but it’s grown with style.”

To begin with, it’s for sale at Growing

Grounds farm in San luis Obispo, the tree is available to wholesalers and the public, though only to the public on the third Tues- day of each month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. But the public can also head to Moore’s Western Garden Center, Bay laurel Garden Center, Miners Ace Hardware Nursery, The Tree Man or The Educated Gardener to pick up a tree. Plants in a one-gallon container are $14, but larger sizes are available.

Because the tree is drought-resistant, sheds no fruit and very few leaves, but grows large and won’t get eaten by deer — not to mention that it’s beautiful, with 10-foot weeping boughs — Shurtleff said it’s sure to be a hit on the Central Coast with its Mediter- ranean climate.

“I’m the eternal optimist,” Shurtleff said. “The money thing never matters. I just like doing my projects.”

For more information on the tree, go to www.theweepingolive.com.