Evergreen Oleaster Hedge Plants

Elaeagnus × submacrophylla Hedging

Formerly classified as Elaeagnus x ebbingei, Evergreen Oleaster is a strong growing evergreen shrub with broad and leathery dark green leaves having silver on the underside. It is fully hardy and will tolerate dry soil, growing in full sun or partial shade.

Its growth is average to fast and it has small scented white flowers in the autumn followed, occasionally by orange fruits. It forms a dense rounded bush and is good for exposed situations providing shelter for other more tender shrubs. It can be affected by coral spot and leaf spot which are both fungal diseases but this is rare.

Note: It is not fully hardy in the North and Scotland, where it will tend to lose its leaves in winter. An alternative would be Elaeagnus angustifolia, which is hardier and has thorns, although it is not evergreen.

See our selection of coastal hedging or view our full range of hedging plants.

Great for your garden

Perfect at the back of a shrub border providing a backdrop for other more ornamental flowering shrubs such as Deutzia and Kolkwitzia when the flowers glow against the dark green. It makes a tall, broad and rounded plant which is easy to prune and is good for hedges up to about 4 metres high. It is tolerant of quite harsh conditions, including drought, and provides a good evergreen winter skeleton. It can also be used in an informal evergreen hedge.

Evergreen elaeagnus hedge plants are delivered pot-grown, all year round.
All of our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the pots aren't measured).

Features:

• Evergreen, silvery grey/green leaves
• Sun or partial shade
• Fully hardy
• Great for poor soils and coastal sites
• Small, strongly-scented white flowers in summer/autumn
• Medium to fast growth up to 4m
• Few pests or diseases

 

History & uses of Oleaster:

This hybrid was bred in the 1920's as the result of a cross between E. macrophylla and E. pungens (or perhaps E. x reflexa). It produces rugby-ball shaped orange fruit, which, when fully ripened, is very much edible! The official name is now Elaeagnus × submacrophylla.

Growing Elaeagnus ebbingei:

Elaeagnus ebbingei will grow well in any sunny, well drained soil apart from shallow chalk, although it will tolerate most other alkaline soils. It is suitable for exposed, salty seaside areas and mature plants are very drought hardy.

Note: Although it is a hardy plant, we generally recommend that you plant Elaeagnus angustifolia instead in the North and Scotland. Elaeagnus ebbingei will often lose its leaves in a Northern winter, which is not a problem in itself, but combined with high rainfall and damp soil, it may struggle to grow well.

Spacing an Elaeagnus ebbingei hedge:

Plant Elaeagnus ebbingei hedging at 2 plants per metre, 50cms apart.

Prepare your site before planting:

It is good to dig over the area where you plant a hedge several months in advance, especially if the soil is poor. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and weed-killer is the best way to remove them.

Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades. If your soil is rich, you don't have to dig it over, but killing all the weeds is still necessary.

Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details. The plants in this video are delivered pot-grown, but planting out bareroot stock is essentially the same.

Note:Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:

Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Neudorff WeedFree Plus.

You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.

When planting in an area with rabbit/deer, you'll need a plastic spiral guard for each plant, and a bamboo cane.

If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using Mycorrhizal Fungi on the roots of new trees and shrubs.

You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.