Elaeagnus Hedging Plants

Elaeagnus hedges are quite fast growing and quick to establish. The silver colouring of an Elaeagnus hedge makes a great contrast to the many greens of a garden. If you live by the coast then Elaeagnus hedges are salt tolerant and make superb a coastal hedge. Elaeagnus are tough, resilient and hardy plants and tolerate most conditions and soil types except waterlogged sites.

The Elaeagnus hedge plants that we grow (Elaeagnus Ebbingei) are fully evergreen.

Elaeagnus hedges will grow at around 30-45cm per year on average and often quicker. On the nursery, we trim the Elaeagnus hedging plants quite hard in the early stages to thicken them up. This does add to the time it takes for the Elaeagnus Hedges to get up to size, but will be worth it in the long run as the hedge will be much fuller and provide a better barrier for wind, noise and privacy.

The speed of growth will also vary depending on things such as how well the ground is prepared prior to planting. Has the planting site has been sufficiently decompacted. Are the Elaeagnus plants, planted correctly. After planting, are the Elaeagnus plants fed and watered regularly.

Elaeagnus Hedges can grow up to 4 metres high and potentially over this if conditions are favourable and the plants are left unchecked. Typically, they tend to grow up to around 3 or 4 metres high when maintained as a hedge. However, a Elaeagnus hedge can be kept much lower than this if required. An Elaeagnus hedge can be maintained from around one metre upwards.

The spacing of plants in a Elaeagnus hedge really is dependent on the size of plants that are being planted as well as the time you are prepared to wait for the hedge to grow and also budget restraints. If using our 10 litre potted Elaeagnus hedging plants, then we would recommend planting at 3 plants per metre. We use 3 plants per metre for our Instant Elaeagnus hedge grown in 90 litre troughs. This way the plants are just about touching when planted, so giving them space to grow into, but not too much that you are left with big gaps in the hedge. We give a recommendation of the planting density for each plant size on the website. Our recommendations are based on planting at a density that the hedging plants will touch after 1 full growing season. This is only a guideline and please use more plants to reduce this timescale or less plants per metre if you have time to wait.

Most of the Hedging plants that we sell will require the same planting procedures. We give advice on how to plant a hedge here on our website. https://hedginguk.com/hedging-advice/how-to-plant-a-hedge/

We trim our Elaeagnus hedges 2 times a year on the nursery. We generally do this Late Winter/ Early Spring, then once in the Summer. Sometimes, if necessary or we miss the Summer trim we do them again in the Autumn. However when planted in the garden as a hedge Elaeagnus can be trimmed once a year. They will tolerate hard pruning if the hedge has grown wider or taller than desired. Trimming your Elaeagnus hedge more frequently will require less work each time and less trimmings to dispose of.

A Elaeagnus hedge will tolerate hard pruning if the hedge has grown too wide or taller than desired. Hard pruning is best carried out in late Winter before the new growth starts to come through. If undertaking a very hard prune, (back to the main stems) then we would recommend to just do one side of the hedge in one season and the other side of the hedge the following season. This will limit the amount of stress imposed on the plants at any one time whilst also leaving some cover on the remaining side retaining some privacy and protection whilst the hard pruned side recovers.

An Elaeagnus hedge is easily cut or trimmed using hedge trimmers. However, as Elaeagnus plants have quite large leaves, some of these leaves will be sliced through by the hedge trimmers. These cut Elaeagnus leaves will crisp up and go brown at the edges as they heal. So, on the nursery we simply use hedge trimmers for the main trim and follow up with secateurs to tidy up and remove any shredded leaves.

We would recommend at least one annual feed for your Elaeagnus hedge. Slow releasing feeds are generally considered best as they provide a steady release of nutrients over a longer period of time. The best time to feed a Elaeagnus hedge is in the Spring just as the new leaves come through. On the nursery we would follow this up with a late Spring feed and also at least one feed in the summer.

Elaeagnus hedges are very versatile and will grow just about anywhere. Elaeagnus hedges will be happy in most reasonably fertile soils provided they are not waterlogged or very wet sites. Elaeagnus hedges will grow in full sun or partial shade, although they will grow quicker the more sun they receive. Elaeagnus make a fantastic coastal hedges as they are tolerant of salt and windy locations. Another plant to consider for coastal locations is Griselinia Littoralis hedging plants.

Elaeagnus hedges are relatively easy to maintain. The hedge can be kept looking tidy with a trim once a year. To save time on tidying up after trimming we recommend using a sheet on the ground to catch the cuttings. This can then be rolled up and tipped into a recycling bin for ease of tidying. This is the same process we use on the nursery and we may trim our Elaeagnus hedges up to 3 times a year. Other than trimming its really only an annual feed and ideally a mulch to help retain some moisture and nutrients in our increasingly drier Summers.

We do grow Instant Elaeagnus hedges here on the nursery in 90 Litre troughs. They are usually available in sizes 4 foot, 5 foot, up to 6 foot and above depending on stock levels. Our Elaeagnus instant hedges have 3 plants per every metre of hedge. The root systems of the 3 plants are all knitted together to form a continuous 1 metre strip of hedge. The top part of the hedge will have been trimmed numerous times to create more density and to encourage the plants to knit together as a hedge.

We grow a range of sizes of Elaeagnus hedging plants for sale here on the nursery. We grow potted Elaeagnus hedging plants, mainly in 10 litre pots. For more immediate impact, we also grow our Instant Elaeagnus Hedges in 90 Litre troughs. The instant hedges come in 1 metre lengths but do require 2 strong people to lift them.

All the Elaeagnus hedging plants that we sell are grown outside here on our nursery in Holmeswood, Lancashire producing robust plants that are quick to establish.

The Elaeagnus plants that we grow and sell for hedging on the nursery have no reported toxicity to humans or animals.