Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)



Looking for info on Stratification, Seed saving & Germination

Try this reference. It seems as though they have hit on a good method to propagate this plant.

I think that when we see articles that talk about a "low" germination rate of 30-60%, we have to see it from the tree's point of view -- 30% of thousands of seeds set in a single season is still alot of offspring.

I haven't saved seeds myself, Russian Olive is a major pest here, but I know the seeds do well when eaten by birds and pooped

im bumping this up as i am interested in planting some russian olives trees around my property.

it seems to be impossible to find seeds for sale, most likely because these trees are considered "weeds" in a lot of areas.
i have a few dying russian olive trees on my property now, and my neighbor has tons, so i should be able to get my hand on plenty of seeds (my neighbor thinks im crazy, which tells me im on the right track )

has anyone started any of these trees from seed? any tricks or tips you can suggest?

Seeds available here
with germination tips.

I've propagated it many times exactly like we propagate willows here, ie by cuttings in late winter/early spring.

We just cut a sturdy stick off the parent plant, optionally soak the bottom end in water for a few days, and then plant it at least a foot and half down into the soil, with any amount sticking up. With willows, since there's heavy animal pressure, we plant them taller, but Russian olive doesn't get browsed or girdled so we sometimes plant it with just a foot or two above ground. Water the cutting well at first and regularly the first summer. We always cut and plant tree cuttings while the trees are dormant in late winter, though I am told that planting in autumn works just as well. I've about 90% success with this method with Russian olive, higher than for willow and in most years than poplar.

W.O.W. does the picture on the right look just right ! Our initial planting was to help hold over grazed soil in place, We ended up with an unnatural corridor that the local white tail deer
take down off of our neighbors hill, and then huddle up before breaking across a small (20' -30') Opening, this is quite like the proverbial shooting fish in a barrel! In the meantime,
the depth of Organic material at the base of our 6 or 8 year old trees has doubled, and much of the trees leaf litter is caught in the nearby weeds ! Big AL

Very easy to grow from seed! Either plant in autumn to germinate in the spring or soak the seeds in water for a couple of days, drain, put in a container to keep moist and place in the refrigerator for 3 months. Does not seem to be invasive in my climate. It is an excellent pioneer species on dry sandy sites.

Any one know how old or how tall before they flower?

Cj Verde wrote:Seeds available here with germination tips.

Not Available for sale in the following states
California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico

anyone want to ship me some? the company cant/wont ship seeds to Colorado because its considered a WEED

Rebecca Norman wrote:I've propagated it many times exactly like we propagate willows here, ie by cuttings in late winter/early spring.

We just cut a sturdy stick off the parent plant, optionally soak the bottom end in water for a few days, and then plant it at least a foot and half down into the soil, with any amount sticking up. With willows, since there's heavy animal pressure, we plant them taller, but Russian olive doesn't get browsed or girdled so we sometimes plant it with just a foot or two above ground. Water the cutting well at first and regularly the first summer. We always cut and plant tree cuttings while the trees are dormant in late winter, though I am told that planting in autumn works just as well. I've about 90% success with this method with Russian olive, higher than for willow and in most years than poplar.

We tried this in the past but not in the manner you describe (we didnt put them in the ground, but in pots). I think i will give this another shot in ground, as our soil holds moisture pretty well, so it may be easier that way.

its probably to late to try this year, but since the cuttings are free, i think ill give it a try and report back.

In this post, C. Letellier said:

One of the complaints by the wildlife experts that was pushing russian olive elimination is that while it benefits some species it is eliminating others. And though I can't speak on effects on animal species I can tell you from personal experience it pushes plants out reducing species. I talked to a friend from Nebraska that said it will even push the cedar trees out of river bottoms.

For firewood it burns good and hot, moderate amount of ash and isn't bad about creosote. The bark is extremely hard on chain saw chains making cutting a bit of a pain. Best guess is that it collects a lot of dirt in its layers. Splits decently if good wood and dry. Miserable stuff to harvest for firewood because nothing is even mildly straight and because of all the thorns. Best answer to help with harvest that I am aware of is goats followed by some cribbing horses. Goats wipe out the under story and the horses get rid of the rest up to more than head high. Normally the branch thicket around the base of the tree means cutting to even clear a place to work to fell the tree. Giant Mechanical shears or cutting blades help here so humans don't have to get close to cut them down. The thorns are rough to work around.

For construction wood the answer is unlikely. The trees tend to spiral crack with changing moisture levels and getting straight pieces even 4 to 6 feet long for wood working is difficult. The other problem is that if the trunk is over about 8 inches in diameter the odds are the heart wood will be rotten. Lots of years spent looking for cabinet size pieces taught me that. For every about 15 or 20 trees cut down with large trunk size I find one tree with good heart wood in the big part of the trunk. Now it might make artificial timber. The process that uses scrub wood and crushes it and adds glue to make an engineered wood might work with these.(I have wondered about this one for 25 years since I saw the original article on it.) It is a beautiful wood working wood especially quarter sawed. Really bad for fine detail work because places in the grain tend to be really fragile. For good durability avoid sharp square profiles along with fragile profiles and round all edges over.

As for when it was introduced in the US I can't speak for other areas but I know roughly when it came into this area. In post dust bowl years it was one of the wind break trees pushed by the government. It was cheap, survived well and was easy to plant. Normal location to plant was fence rows for wind break. So late 1930's or early 40's was when it first came to this area. I have talked to a few old farmers who remember when their families planted the original rows in this area. So in basically 80 years it has gone from nonexistent to the dominate tree in this area. In my 50 year lifetime I have watched the river bottoms change from mostly dark green trees with an occasional russian olive mixed in to a sea of the pale green russian olive and just a few dark green trees showing. And it is pushing up the mountains along the streams. Damage to habitat is one of the concerns as it moves higher on the mountains. It may also be hurting water quality.(The guy arguing this one didn't have real proof but was making a bit of sense.) He was talking about reduced grass growth along streams because the trees were choking it out. And that grass acts as a fine bio filter so lack of it was reducing water quality at certain times of the year. This last one I have heard from only a couple of people and there was not solid science to back it. But it should be in the discussion till proven or dis-proven.

Don't get me wrong I see numerous advantage to russian olives. Easy spreading in an area where trees are hard to get started. The bee keepers love them because of the long bloom time and huge pollen loads.(they do try to track frames from it though and leave those for the bees because it does not make great honey apparently.) Migrating birds love them for food in the fall. The fruit is eaten and the seeds spit out. Huge food source for some species. Other species are hurt by them. Wild turkey for example had other native foods they ate that the russian olive push out. And turkeys don't see long term benefit from the berries partly because where they are in the trees but mostly because migrating birds wipe it out not leaving some of the longer lasting food sources they originally used. So turkeys are more hurt than helped by them according to the biologists presenting at the meetings for removal. They provide good shelter for small wild life. And this just lists a few. But having grown up around them I also see the disadvantages and understand why the state is going after them. Water loss, loss of species etc. Having changed hundreds of russian olive flat tires colors it even more against. Multiple hard to heal wounds colors it more too. Dry thorns are mostly safe only making a hole but green thorns contain a toxin that produces an allergic reaction in most people increasing pain and slowing healing.

As for using them in hugelkulture that is on my to do list to try. Since I have only been aware of it a bit over a year, I didn't make it last year. Hopefully health will cooperate and I will get around to trying it this year.

Personally I hate the amount of money that has gone into the cleanup for even our small drainage. I also hate the waste of piling trees and burning them as slash piles. But I understand the reasons too. If we are going to spend government money on this I would like to see a harvesting for bio fuels program of some sort created to use the wood and instead of wiping the russian olive out in an area simply put so much pressure on them via harvesting for fuel that they don't spread. There are many areas where growing these for fuel might be the best use of that land. If the contract cost could be used to cover the initial startup cost of the business could it hang on afterward without those contracts? Surely a fuel they are paying roughly $200 to $250 an acre to harvest a way can be found to make it viable for power generation. In the short term use the fact that it has more value to cover the start up.

Some of these complaints remind me of the complaints about the invasives in my area; Honeysuckle and Japanese Barberry. The bees love them, they inhibit new tree growth, good for some small wildlife.

I'm not sure if I can explain this correctly but I'm enjoying fantasizing about a Godzilla v King Kong fight among the invasives. Watch Honeysuckle and Japanese Barberry duke it out with Russian Olives and Honeylocust as nervous foresters bite there nails and wildlife gorge on the horrible abundance of mast.

Cj Sloane wrote:Any one know how old or how tall before they flower?

According to some studies Eleagnus Angustifolia is fertile from the age of 4 to 6 years.
Here it is the Refenrece where that information is shown: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8692083_Micropropagation_of_Elaeagnus_angustifolia_from_mature_trees.

J.

Alright, I just started my research on what to plant on my property and the Russian Olive appears to be potentially the most useful according to the Natural Plant Capital Database. I'm looking for trees that could provide a good windbreak and be easy to establish. However, as I search for more information about the Russian Olive, I am seeing a lot about it being invasive and several states making it illegal and forcing you to cut them down. It's not currently illegal in Idaho but I heard that someone is trying really hard to make it so. I also found a website where people report sightings of the Russian Olive and had a map broken down by county. I didn't see any sightings in my county so I am wondering - if I plant this thing and it spreads outside of my property and makes someone mad, could they trace it back to me and cause me a lot of suffering? Is there a way to hide the tree (probably not very likely as my property is right along the highway)? What potential sociopolitical downsides could planting this thing incur and is it worth it?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts.

We walk nearly every day along a creek in the canyon that cuts through town. In areas where they aren't controlled, the Russian Olive trees have made a dense thorny thicket along the stream bank with many of the trees tipped into the creek. This probably improves fish habitat but is terrible for fishing.
Deer, foxes, coyotes, squirrels, and many types of birds eat the fruit in the winter. The Russian Olives are by far the most numerous trees in the canyon. I have not seen any with beaver damage.
Old photos of the canyon from the 1920s show the creek and canyon nearly devoid of trees.

In our local canyon the few remaining Cottonwoods and Poplars that the Beavers haven't cut down have had their trunks wrapped with chicken wire for protection from gnawing. We have started to see Russian Olives that have been worked over by Beavers.