PDX Garden Home

It's called a tea olive... but it's neither tea nor olive. (Botanically, it's Osmanthus.) I planted this one in a pot a year and a half ago and it's taken off - growing so vigorously I think it's finally earned a permanent spot in the ground. A tough, handsome shrub with serious privacy-screen potential.

I’ve heard that fennel may be allelopathic, meaning it can potentially affect the growth of nearby plants. But as with a lot of gardening advice, I wonder how much the scale of the issue matters. Even if fennel does have that effect, is it really a practical concern in a small home garden bed, or is it one of those things that gets overstated? I’m curious what other gardeners have seen.