You have a sunny spot in your garden and don't know what to plant there? How about e.g. sea buckthorn? He looks good and the fruits are he althy too.
The sea buckthorn seems to have come to these areas during the last ice age. It is native here and can therefore also be cultivated well. Many do not even know the wild fruit itself, but only from the supermarket. Because sea buckthorn jam, liqueur, creams and much more are currently booming here. No wonder, because the sea buckthorn is, next to the wild rose, the most vitamin-rich wild fruit tree. The berries contain even more vitamin C than citrus fruits. Well, if that isn't a reason to plant the decorative sea buckthorn yourself.
What does sea buckthorn look like?
The sea buckthorn is a very decorative wild fruit tree. It has silver-grey, oblong leaves and also bears small orange berries. They form a nice contrast to the green leaves. The crown of the sea buckthorn is rather irregular and it can grow up to five meters tall.
Where does sea buckthorn grow best?
The sea buckthorn needs a lot of light and does not tolerate shade. It can even grow in coastal regions and on very rocky soil. Therefore, it is mainly found in nature on the North Sea and B altic Sea.
Since the sea buckthorn can grow very large, you should also have enough space in the garden for the plant. The soil must be deep but not too acidic. If the soil is heavily loaded with clay, you should mix in more sand.
Important:
In order to be able to harvest berries regularly, you must plant at least three trees. One male and two female. The berries only grow on the female sea buckthorn trees.
| Female sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) | |
|---|---|
| Growth Speed: | 20 - 40 cm a year |
| Growth: | 200 - 300 cm |
| Growth: | 150 - 250 cm |
| Root system: | Deep Roots |
| Location: | Sun to partial shade |
| Floor: | sandy, permeable |
| Sea Buckthornmale (Hippophae rhamnoides) | |
|---|---|
| Growth Speed: | 20 - 30 cm a year |
| Growth: | 300 - 400 cm |
| Growth: | 200 - 300 cm |
| Root system: | Deep Roots |
| Location: | Sun to partial shade |
| Floor: | sandy, normal garden soil |
How to plant sea buckthorn?
As you have just found out, you need several sea buckthorn plants - and accordingly a lot of space. When planting, make sure that you plant the male plants to the west of the female plants, so that they are in the prevailing wind direction. The flowers are pollinated by the wind.
It is also important that you insert a root barrier into the ground around the sea buckthorn plants. This is the only way you can curb the formation of foothills. You can find out here how to correctly embed the rhizome barrier in the ground.
How to properly care for sea buckthorn?
If you bring sea buckthorn into your garden and plant a rhizome barrier in the ground, you don't have to do much. It is sufficient if you provide the sea buckthorn with some compost every two years and thus with nutrients.
To prevent the sea buckthorn from becoming bare and lignified on the inside, you should cut back the harvested shoots every two years in late winter. Thin out the sea buckthorn if necessary.
When is the sea buckthorn ready to harvest?
Depending on the variety, the wild fruit is ready for harvest from mid-August to mid-September. Harvesting the berries is relatively laborious and sometimes painful because of the long thorns. But there is one method that makes harvesting a breeze.
- Simply cut off the branches with the berries.
- Then remove the leaves and cut the branches into small pieces.
- Put the branch pieces in a freezer bag and place in the freezer.
- Remove the frozen berries.
- Hit the bag with a cooking spoon.
- Pour the contents into a bowl of water and skim off the berries.
In this way you save yourself the tedious task of picking the individual berries.