Shed a tear for.............

my Russian Olive!
When I had front yard landscaped in 99 we put in a Russian Olive - the grey looked neat against the backdrop of a Shubert Chokecherry. But it did not survive the winter. The 2nd tree put in in 2000 did well and developed into a lovely shrubby tree with windswept branchs. I was told that if it survived the first couple of years it would do well. In fact thee are Russian Olives all over the city , some very old.
This is what it looked like in 2003.(just on the right of the pic)

But,sadly, this spring only one of the 3 main trunks leafed out! And the arborist said that trunk had some kind of bacteial infection. And since it would have looked very odd to leave that part standing we took the whole tree out - today! I have been unable to get under the tree to clean out the plant material so it is quite a mess. Here is what it looks like now with a partial clean up done. Leaves a big hole in the front yard!

But I am nothing if not persistant. I have already ordered another for next spring!

So sad, isn't it to lose a tree, fancyvan. I know how you feel. When those bacterial infections hit, there is little you can do. I just lost a Cherry tree last fall for the same reasons.

I hope you do replace it, Russian Olive's are so beautiful. Good Luck!

Don

Such a shame Carol. I admire your persistence, a trait of gardeners everywhere.

Joan

I am so sorry that you have lost such a beautiful tree Carol, and equally as glad that you are going to replace it with another. They say that the third time is the charm :-) --Ginny

Well if I manage to get 5-6 years out of the tree I will just keep replacing it!

carol

Curiousity about your Russian Olive's early demise Carol made me do a little investigating:

Russian Olive (Eleagnus angustifolia L.)
Not available through the PFRA Shelterbelt Centre

Russian olive is a shrub or small tree that is a native of Eurasia.In western Canada, it has occassionally spread from cultivation to the wild. It is drought hardy and tolerant to alkaline soils but is susceptible to stem canker disease. http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/diseases/series600/rpd636/

Russian olive is not a long-lived species on the Prairies. Russian olive will reach a height of 7 metres in its 10 to 20 year life span. Both thorny and thornless types of the species exist. Branchlets are silvery in color while the older wood is reddish-brown. The long, narrow leaves are produced in small clusters on twigs in early summer. The silver colored fruit is drupe-like, containing a large seed.

http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt/shbpub35.htm

I know it did well in the Battlefords because my DFIL was allergic to it and he always had a tough time there. It isn't often sighted around Southern Saskatchewan tho.

This message was edited Aug 4, 2006 1:11 AM

Sorry to hear about losing your beautiful Russian Olive tree.
I have a small one..that is about three years old..but not nearly as beautiful as yours. It doesn't get a lot of sun as it is in the Secret garden where there are apple trees surrounding it. You have great attitude though..just get another and start again.

Cheers,
Carol

Fancyvan, I commiserate on your loss, and it does change the garden's appearance, but, I must say that your landscaping is absolutely wonderful. Makes me look like the novice I am, but, I am working on that. Good luck with the next one. You are an amazing gardener! BAM

I shed tears with you. My Russian Olive tree was the focal point of my front garden and did well for three years. It leafed out beautifully this spring but then it died. No visible signs of disease but it started from on side wilting and bang it was dead. It has some green on it now so I thought I would wait til next spring to see how it does. If I need to remove it, roots, what did you do?

Well the tree people brought in a stump grinder and ground it down about 12 inches and that is that- so the rest of the root is still there - he said they were fairly shallow rooted. Guess we will find out when I put a new tree in next year. The wire cage that was around the root ball is still there - a piece is sticking up out of the ground so I am not sure what we will do about that - obviously it cannot go in the same spot.

Russian Olives seem to love the Ottawa climate. Several specimens in my neighbourhood have been here for several decades, and we're Zone 4b. They survived the ice storm in 1998 and bloom with great fragrance in spring. Maybe our cold winter prevents the bacteria/virus problem?

I dont know Andy but the fact is there are Russian Olives all over this city and doing just fine! The city seems to use them quite extensively on boulewards for instance. Maybe my yard is too rich for them!