I am officially confused! Do you mean the Osmanthus fragrans (Tea Olive) or Elaeagnus pungens (or other Elaeagnus), often called Russian Olive or a host of other common names. I always call it UglyAgnus.

I wouldn't call the former fast growing nor in need of frequent pruning, but the latter......Yeouch! What a pest that plant is.

So, which do you have?

That's a good question...I was just told they were "Sweet Olive Bushes" and I had never heard of them before. So, I don't know for sure. But, I've looked them up and I think...it may be the Russian Olive type...although I am not sure. Some of the pictures lead me to believe it is, and in some of the pictures I've seen of it, the leaves look a lot narrower than the ones I've acquired. I don't think the one's I have are ugly at all...if they weren't so over-pruned, I think they might not be too bad...but then again, I like most plants, so I'm probably not the best one to give an opinion on these things.

Anyhow, here is a picture...maybe you could help me identify it and then offer some suggestion on what I should do with it! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:277937}}

Okay. I'm going to take a stab at helping you here. Osmanthus fragrans has dark green, leathery leaves on a shrub that will naturally grow (slowly) tall (easy to keep it at 8 to 10 feet) and somewhat narrow (3 to 4 feet). It blooms in late fall and sporadically through the winter and spring. You wouldn't notice the tiny yellowish blooms, except that they smell positively divine. These shrubs are very nice at entrances to your home because of that lovely smell. I have mine at the back door in front of the power meter, etc. If you choose to plant them in a row, plant them about five feet apart. (Measure from center of one plant to center of the next.)

Eleagnus would be a loosely mounding shrub, also with leathery leaves, but most commonly seen with a silvery/greyish/spotted speckled leaf that always makes me think "Poor sick thing". (As rhizo said, UglyAgnus.) There is also a (rather gaudy) green/yellow variegated form. Eleagnus often has thorns. It blooms in summer and by this time of year would have a berrylike fruit that resembles olives. (Of coure, yours would probably have been pruned off by now.) If this is the one you have, you need to know that it will want to grow 20 feet by 20 feet. They make a good substitute fence (well, maybe not good...) but you do not want it in a foundation planting unless your house is build on stilts! To tell you the truth, I wouldn't dig the holes for even a free eleagnus.

Okay. You decide which you have and if you want to save it. The planting process is the same for either one.

First, get it out of the bucket of water. A day or two is long enough for it to hydrate. After that, you risk root rot.

Add several inches of compost (homemade) or manure (you can buy it in bags) to the area where you want to plant the shrub. The hole should be about 3 feet in diameter and about a foot deep. Pour the manure right over the hole area before you start digging. Next, use your shovel to cut that three foot circle around the manure (l foot, or one spade's depth). Then use your shovel to cut the circle into fourths (like pieces of pie).

THEN, start to dig the dirt out of the circle, lifting and turning and dropping it right back in and breaking the soil up with the shovel into smaller and smaller pieces. (Cutting the circle into fourths will keep the pieces from being so heavy, thus saving your back.)

Work around the circle 3 or 4 times, so the soil in the area is soft and crumbly, and the manure is so well mixed in that you can't see it anymore.

THEN, make the hole for your plant. Since your plants are bare root, you should form a mound of soil in the bottom of your hole so that the top of the mound comes up almost to ground level. Set your plant right on top of the mound so that the roots are hanging down and around the mound. You want the crown (the point where the roots stop and the plant begins) to sit just above ground level when you are done planting.

Hold the plant in position with one hand and scoop the soil you dug out back into the hole with the other hand, firming it around the roots and filling the hole back up to the base of the plant crown.

THEN add two to four inches of mulch around the plant and over the entire three feet diameter hole area. Pull the mulch a couple of inches back from the crown so that air can circulate and the crown doesn't rot.

WATER very very well. ONCE. Then, if you get rain every week, you're done. If you don't get rain, water once a week, but well. That's all. Lord willing, your shrub should grow without any problem. Since you have several, be sure to space them properly. If you do a good job, come spring, your plant should just take off.

There's an old saying that you need a $100 hole for a $1 plant. Since you have five bushes, I'd advise you to get a friend or two to help you unless you have nice soft soil and are in really good shape. :)

That picture looks like Elaeagnus shrubs - an invasive, rampant grower that will need frequent pruning to keep it in control. The husband was right!

Here is a link that might be useful: Invasive plants per TN-EPPC

no matter what you decide to do .. they are not bog plants...

get them out of the buckets...

dig a hole.. stick the plant into it.. refill hole.. water it ...

and then you have about 4 - 6 weeks to figure out location and proper planting ....

roots need air.. as much as the plant needs water ... so the bucket is not great ....

donnas pretty good.. but i dont have time to read it all ... i am sure she covered it all ... just dont leave them in the bucket for another week or something.. well you figure it all out ...

ken

Just in case you are interested, two species of Elaeagnus ( the most commonly used species) are listed as a 'Severe Threat' (that's the worst category) by the Tennessee Exotic Plant Pest Council.

The birds and other animals that love those tasty fruit help spread these plants rampantly. They create, in a very short time, thickets of monoculture that can do true damage to native woodlands and other areas.

Some people don't pay much attention to such information, feeling that it is their right to plant whatever they want on their own property. It's my opinion that is NOT our right to introduce a known problem into the community. Your plants could become everyone's problem. OK? Lecture over.

As far as transplanting goes, you might be better off by leaving your plants in water until sometime next year. Say, August or so. Be SURE that you never change the water, as they will probably thrive in the stagnation. Then, mix in a healthy dose of Quikrete (concrete mix) into the hole prior to planting. As Donna suggests, you will only need to water once. ;-)