Sea-buckthorn. An undemanding tree with amazing fruit

Many people praise sea buckthorn fruit as miraculous and in many aspects they are right. The fruit strengthens our immune system, mainly because it contains plenty of vitamin C, but that may not be the only reason why they praise it. This tree is very attractive and improves the “image“of your garden too. It has very nice silvery green oblong leaves, which resemble rosemary leaves. Once the tree produces orange-red fruitit is a very pleasant sight. But beauty may be a bit dangerous as some varieties have thorns making harvesting a challenging task.

Site selection

The first thing you should consider when getting sea buckthorn is whether you can provide the necessary growing conditions. You need to create a suitable habitat because the plant depends on it. Sea-buckthorn does well in a basic soil but it will grow even in poor and dry soil. Thanks to its Mediterranean origin, it does not mind salty soils and fluctuations in soil moisture. You can grow it almost anywhere providing that there is a sufficient amount of sunlight. Sea-buckthorn needs plenty of sunlight. Avoid heavy soil that tends to hold water. Sea-buckthorn deals well with air pollution so, you can plant it by roadsides and in urban environments.

Photo: Pixabay

Growing conditions

• Sunnyspot.
• Soil that does not hold water.
• Light and permeable soil. No heavy clay.

Growing sea-buckthorn

Sea-buckthorn can reach a height of up to 6 meters, so do not plant it under growing trees as they may interfere later with other trees and create too much shade. Sea-buckthorn is a dioecious plant and that means you need to grow two trees (one male and one female) side by side if you want to harvest fruit. One male bush is enough to pollinate up to six females (two female bushes for one male is recommended). Sea-buckthorn does not like to share its spot with other plants, so it is not suitable for small gardens. It does not deal well with transplanting so, think before choosing the right location.

Caring for sea-buckthorn

Sea-buckthorn is an undemanding plant and it is rarely attacked by pests or diseases. You may fertilize every third or fourth year (compost is great).

Harvest

Harvesting is not an easy task. To make things worse many birds like sea-buckthorn berries too and can consume huge part of your harvest. Berries are soft and firmly attached to stems, and you need to be very careful when plucking them out because you can squeeze the juice easily and lose valuable nutrients. Sharp thorns also make harvesting unpleasant, so if you can, plant a variety without thorns. The good news is that the fruit can remain on the tree until the winter and as a matter of fact many gardeners prefer to collect fruit after freezing, becausethe fruit is harder and collecting is easier.

Source: https://porady.interia.pl/ogrody/news-jak-uprawiac-rokitnik,nId,4914368

Preview photo: Pixabay