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

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

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

On Sun, 19 Aug 2018 10:44:19 +0100, Janet wrote:

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.

Thank you. Fairly obvious really now you have pointed it out.

I would have plodded on for years in ignorance without that pointer.

Many thanks, I will stop pampering the next batch.


AB

On Sun, 19 Aug 2018 21:36:16 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sun, 19 Aug 2018 10:25:25 +0100, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp
wrote:

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 think your chain link fence should be at lest four feet away from
the hedge. In my previous bungalow, we had a field on one side where
horses used to graze. We had a 4ft high Cornish hedge* on that side,
and a narrow border in which we struggled to grow anything because the
horses just stuck their heads over the wall and cropped almost
everything. Eventually we found they didn't like rosemary. I'll never
forget seeing one of the horses' reaction to its first mouthful. It's
lips curled right back showing its teeth in an almost human expression
of 'Ugh!, that's horrible!'.

I think your hedge will get a lot more than a pudding basin cut.
They'll eat as much of it as they can reach, sides and top.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_hedge

Many thanks Chris. I will have to get friendly with the farmer!

I truly am grateful, I would not have thought of that,I would have
stuck the fence up and I would imagine that a resited fence would not
have quite the same looks.

Your posts were uppermost in my mind when I was playing with the hedge
and planting cuttings earlier this year. Thank heavens for Usenet and
people such as yourself.

I was in Cornwall a few times, never noticed the hedge style though. I
will pay more attention on my next visit.

AB

On Mon, 20 Aug 2018 06:54:00 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sun, 19 Aug 2018 22:42:13 +0100, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp
wrote:
Many thanks Chris. I will have to get friendly with the farmer!

I truly am grateful, I would not have thought of that,I would have
stuck the fence up and I would imagine that a resited fence would not
have quite the same looks.

I should have also said that the taller the fence, the more difficult
it would be for the horses or cattle to lean over it and eat the
hedge. But tall fences are expensive and may look out of place in some
locations

I might go up a metre and keep things around that height, although
after a svere storm some years back, the felled Olerias which han't
been touched for some thirty years, kept the wood burner going for
nearly two years. A tempting thought if fuel prices go up when I'm in
my dotage.

I will try for a metre initially with the spacing and an electric
fence I might be o/k.

A high fence would I'm sure not be practical. I had to replace the 2"
aluminum TV mast with a scaffolding pole and I'm told that chainlinks
can collect the black plastic and suchlike, they then go horizontal in
the wind.

I think the chainlink and a supplementary electric fence might be the
answer, although as I provide power to the farmer, he might not object
to me adding some wire onto his existing system.

Again thanks Chris.

AB