Lynda Thornton wrote in message
...
Hi

I am interested in planting a Elaeagnus pungens 'Maculata' in a corner
of the garden as I have read that they are very tough and can withstand
difficult situations and conditions. I've been looking online but the
trouble is different online web shops give very different height
guidelines for this plant. Crocus say 5m while Duchy of Cornwall say
2m! Why is there such a huge variation and which height is most
accurate? Are they using different timescales for ultimate height
achievable perhaps? I understand that the plant's height might vary
with conditions, but surely not as much as 3 meters?

The place I am thinking of is quite a sheltered corner (but on the other
side of the fence are some pollarded sycamores which might cause a
delicate plant to fail) which gets some, but not a lot of, sun and I am
hoping it will grow to 10ft+ to provide some privacy screening from next
door and maybe brighten up the corner a bit.

Lynda


Hi Lynda,

I once had a hedge of E.p. 'Maculata'. It was magnificent. Once
established it is very vigorous and, although I had read ultimate height as
3m, I can readily believe it will make more. Shop carefully for a good
yellow variegation, it will look stunning and really cheerful in winter.
Watch out for growth that reverts to the plain green form and remove it at
source, otherwise the even more vigorous green form will take over.

I wonder how big your 'corner' is? Because the Eleagnus will make 3m
through as well as high, it would be better to plant it well out from the
corner - not just to accommodate its growth. but to get it established away
from those Sycamores. The only other problem I forsee is Sooty Mould. This
develops on the honeydew secretions from ahpids and scale bugs, which our
local (overhanging my garden :-{{ !) Sycamores have plagues of. Because
Eleagnus is evergreen it will not shed its leaves en masse; therefore you
could end up with a really filthy-looking shrub. This is probably another
argument for planting it away from the Sycamore-infested corner.

Spider