In various forums, interested laypeople often read about oleander owners who want to leave their (usually older and therefore difficult to overwinter) oleanders in the garden or even plant them out as hedges. However, these successes are usually not crowned with success in our latitudes, because as a Mediterranean plant, Nerius oleander is not hardy. However, you can also use potted plants to create a pretty (and mobile) oleander hedge over the summer.
Can I plant an oleander hedge in my garden?
An oleander hedge is not hardy in our latitudes and is therefore unsuitable for the garden. Instead, you can cultivate oleander in a pot and use it as a decorative privacy screen on the balcony, terrace or in the garden.
Oleander is not hardy
Like all plants native to the Mediterranean region, the oleander is only partially hardy. This means that it can stay outside at temperatures of up to minus five degrees Celsius - provided it is an older and therefore more robust specimen - but it freezes in colder and longer-lasting frosty temperatures. For this reason, it is not a good idea to plant oleander in the garden in the form of a hedge - it would simply freeze away after just one slightly colder winter.
Overwintering Mediterranean plants properly
Instead, it is best to overwinter oleanders under cold house conditions, which means:
- cool at around five degrees Celsius
- frost-free
- as bright as possible
- Bright staircases, unheated rooms or winter gardens, garden houses or sheds (just not made of sheet metal!) are ideal
- whereby dark rooms (e.g. basement) are also possible if the wintering is just above zero point
Oleander should be moved into its winter quarters as late as possible and cleared out again as early as possible in the spring. Also, don't forget to water the plant regularly.
Design options with oleander in a pot
Nevertheless, you don't have to miss out on a lush, densely leafy and wonderfully flowering oleander hedge - you just shouldn't plant it out. Instead, simply arrange oleanders grown in pots so that they create a good privacy screen or boundary for your balcony, terrace or garden. However, make sure that the individual plants are not too close together: Oleander needs space and air, otherwise there is an immediate risk of a pest invasion, for example from spider mites or scale insects.
Tip
When cutting the oleander, you should not cut it back too much (or only do so if it is unavoidable for various reasons) and, above all, do not touch the two-year-old shoots. Oleander mainly blooms on the previous year's wood, which is why you can quickly deprive yourself of the magical blossom if you prune it too boldly.
