On Sun, 19 Aug 2018 07:20:30 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sun, 19 Aug 2018 01:03:46 +0100, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp
wrote:

Hi,
Back again.
I have planted around sixty Olearia, and
they are coming along fairly well. I have planted some in a line on
stony soil, using compost to fill the hole. These are a bitt sluggish
growth wise and the foliage isn't dense at all. They are still under a
metre, whereas the others planted in deeper soil are a good few cm
higher.

I am hoping that the roots will find their way into the earth
eventually. The plants are dead on the edge of a compacted roadway
made of limestone chippings with a base of larger rocks on sandy soil.

Anyway I will try a breaker for my next planting session.


The fields bordered by the road are home to cattle and horses. I
assume chainlink fencing will be the best means of stopping the hedge
from becoming cow pats and horse manure?

I could get an electric fence, but the property is vacant for months
at a time, so the chances are high that it might malfunction or get
shorted by weed growth.

Once again, could I ask anyone with an interest to comment or suggest
a more effective approach.

Incidentally after my last post regarding cuttings, my success rate
with germination shot up, it seemed that every Oleria cutting rooted
and grew. I have brought them back to the UK for their first winter.

Sadly for no logical reason that I know of, those planted slightly
later [weeks], have a less than 1% success rate. Most are brown and
shrivelled, I still have around twenty that are green, but there is no
new growth and no evidence of roots so far. I used the same technique
for all cuttings.

Is agar likely to be a useful growth medium? If I could see the root
growth, maybe it would assist in developing a more consistent
"production line".

AB

Olearia traversii is a fast growing hedging plant, much used in
Cornwall and coastal locations elsewhere. When established, they can
grow three feet or more in a year. It is salt-gale resistant, although
the wood tends to be brittle and branches snap off rather easily. In
exposed locations subject to strong gales, it's worth cutting them
hard back, say by half, when they get up to say 5-6 feet, otherwise
they can blow over. Severe pruning like that allows the roots to
continue developing and they are better able to support the plant
later. Because they are fast growing, the tops will soon grow back
again.

No plant likes being planted into hard compacted soil, but they will
probably be OK eventually. Just be patient.

Horses and cattle have a surprisingly long reach. Whether they will
like Olearia, I don't know, but if they do I would suggest that any
barrier, fence or whatever, needs to be several feet in front of the
hedge.

Thanks Chris, I took your advice for the cuttings and went for the
more solid growth. Initially the results were good. Maybe the fact
that I took the later cuttings further into a drought didn't help.

I was hoping to put a chainlink fence in fairly close proximity to the
hedge, I assumed one side would have the equivalent of a pudding basin
cut where the animals can get to the growth, but I suppose the growth
might lift the fence if not controlled?

Horses and cattle love Olearia, as I found out during planting. A cute
looking cow ambled up during the process, showing interest in my
activities, then lifted one of my newly planted Olearia and stood
there chomping happily.

I have windbreak with wooden stakes between at the moment, but I doubt
that it will last

Many thanks


AB