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Janet · 19-08-2018, 10:44 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In article ,
says...

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.

Just as a general principle, I've long since given up putting superior
compost /planting medium into planting holes. Roots then tend to stay in
the planting hole where the best conditions are, when what you really
want is for them to head west looking for new territory in firm ground,
to establish a good grip before the new plant is subjected to wind rock
in coastal gales.
Janet.

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