Minneapolis-St.Paul!?

Question

What is the matter with the Russian Olives by the freeways?

Answer 1

If you are talking about the fact that they don't look great there could be a few reasons.

It was a VERY cold winter and the frost line was deeper than usual this past winter so until the ground warms to a certain temp, the trees stay dormant.   We have had such a late spring, everything is about 2-3 weeks behind schedule.

OR....(see the link below)

When it was first introduced, the Russian-olive was relatively pest free since its pests were not here, but in Asia. Also, since  there were not a lot of Russian-olives planted and these plantings were spread out, very few native diseases became a  problem. Now, however, with Russian-olives a common sight from South Dakota to New England, diseases have become a  problem. Probably the most important is phomopsis canker. This fungus disease was first found in Missouri in 1963, about a hundred years after the tree was introduced into the United States. The disease kills branches and, if left unchecked, can eventually kill the entire tree. The disease is contributing to the decline of Russian-olives in windbreaks across the Great Plains.