Russian olive

Botanical name

Elaeagnus angustifolia

Type

Medium deciduous tree or large shrub from Asia and southern Europe

Size

Medium height, irregular spreading canopy (Utah State University)

Hardiness

Zones 2 to 7; zones 6b to 7b in our valleys

Where it is found

Windbreaks, ditch banks, old ranch sites and streamsides on the valley floors, about 3,900 to 5,200 feet

Known weak points

Spiny twigs, root and stump sprouts, weedy spread, brittle growth

Russian olive was brought to Nevada early; the University of Nevada, Reno Extension traces the first known planting here to 1906. It tolerates salt, drought and alkaline soil, and that made it a favorite for windbreaks and ranch yards. This page is about identifying it, where it shows up in our elevation bands and what removal involves.

How do you identify a Russian olive?

The leaves are narrow, oblong and silvery gray-green, with a pale scaly underside, so the whole tree has a silver cast against the sky. Twigs are silvery too and sometimes carry stiff spines. Small, whitish-yellow flowers open in May and are sweetly fragrant, and silvery-yellow olive-like fruits ripen in late summer.

Bark on older trunks is gray-brown, shredding and crooked. Trees on ditch banks and old windbreak rows are often multi-stemmed and leaning.

• Silvery, narrow leaves
• Thorny twigs on many trees
• Fragrant yellow flowers in May
• Olive-like silvery fruit in late summer

Where does it grow in Reno, Carson City and the Carson Valley?

Russian olive is a low-elevation tree. Utah State University rates it for zones 2 to 7 and high for drought, salt and alkalinity, which describes the Truckee Meadows and Carson Valley floors, where Reno sits near 4,505 feet and Carson City near 4,680 feet. Lower towns such as Fernley (4,154 feet) and Fallon (3,965 feet) fall inside the same hardiness range.

It is not a Tahoe basin tree. At Incline Village (6,437 feet, zone 6b) the soil and the conifer forest leave little room for it. The Nevada Department of Agriculture does not plan to list it as a noxious weed, according to the UNR Extension publication, although Colorado, New Mexico and five Utah counties do.

What goes wrong with it here?

The main trouble is that it spreads. The UNR Extension publication says it began to escape cultivation soon after its introduction, that birds and animals spread the seed and that it can displace native willows and cottonwoods along streams. Utah State University's tree guide calls the species very aggressive and weedy and says it should not be planted.

On a yard tree, the day-to-day problems are thorns, litter and dead wood. Big old trees carry brittle dead limbs, and thick sprout growth around the base hides leaning trunks. The UNR publication adds that growth along waterways can restrict water flow and increase erosion. See tree of heaven for another tree that returns from its roots.

Pruning, cabling or removal: which is the right call?

Pruning is the answer for a tree you want to keep: remove dead wood, thin the crown, take down limbs that hang over a roof, and cut sprouts at the base. Because the trunk is often multi-stemmed, a good cut leaves a clean collar rather than a stub. Our guide to tree trimming and pruning shows the range of work.

Removal is the usual answer for trees you no longer want. The UNR publication warns that the plant regrows from cut stumps, twigs, branches and lateral roots, that no single method eliminates it in one pass and that cut material should be removed. We grind stumps and haul brush; stump grinding reduces what is left, and the arborist tells you at the estimate that a follow-up for sprouts may be needed. We do not apply herbicides.

What does Battle Born Tree Service do about a Russian olive?

Call 775.232.8243 or use the estimate form on this page. An ISA Certified Arborist looks at the tree on site, explains what is wrong and tells you whether the job is pruning, brush clearing or full removal with the stump ground. Credential WE-11728A is held by one of our two certified arborists. Large thickets along a property edge fall under lot clearing and masticating, which the arborist can quote on site.