Sea buckthorn

Sun

Full sun; shade reduces growth and fruiting.

Water

Water regularly while establishing; drought-tolerant once rooted. Avoid persistently wet ground.

Soil

Well-drained sandy, gravelly or loamy soil, including poor and moderately saline soils. Tolerates a broad pH range, including alkaline soil, but struggles in waterlogged clay.

Height

8-20 ft (2.4-6 m)

Spread

6-15 ft (1.8-4.6 m), eventually wider through suckering

Flowers

Small, inconspicuous yellow-green to brownish flowers in early spring, before the leaves; male and female flowers usually occur on separate plants.

Foliage

Narrow grey-green leaves with silvery undersides, carried on stiff, thorny branches.

Growth

Fast once established

Care needed

Medium

• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Wildlife
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.7 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   5 ft (1.6 m)

3. After 2 years

   9 ft (2.8 m)

4. After 3 years

   13 ft (3.9 m)

5. After 5 years

   14 ft (4.2 m)

   full size

About 3 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the UK

Invasive in

the US and Canada

In the garden

Spreads vigorously: plan to contain it.

Growth rate

Fast

• Water deeply during dry spells for the first two growing seasons; water established fruiting plants during prolonged drought.
• Plant a named male pollinator near female plants; one male commonly serves about six to eight females, with overlapping flowering times.
• Avoid routine nitrogen feeding: root bacteria fix nitrogen, and rich feeding can encourage excessive leafy growth.
• Apply a light organic mulch, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Remove unwanted suckers promptly and keep the shrub away from paths, play areas and property boundaries.

Pruning. In late winter, remove dead, damaged and crossing branches, then thin a few older stems if the shrub is crowded. Avoid hard annual clipping on fruiting plants, because it removes wood that would bear berries.

Pick fully coloured orange or yellow-orange berries from late summer into autumn, when they are juicy and have developed their characteristic sharp flavour; exact timing depends on the cultivar and climate. Wear gloves against the thorns and pick carefully, as ripe berries crush easily.

Late winter

Thin crowded growth, remove damaged wood and cut out unwanted suckers.

Early spring

Plant while dormant where soil is workable, and check that male and female plants are present for fruit production.

Spring

Mulch lightly and control weeds around young plants without digging deeply among the roots.

Summer

Water young plants during dry weather and inspect the surrounding ground for new suckers.

Late summer

Begin checking berries for full colour and juiciness; harvest early-ripening selections.

Autumn

Harvest later berries and remove seedlings or suckers beyond the intended planting area.

• Use as an informal coastal windbreak where salt spray and sandy soil limit other shrubs.
• Plant as a thorny boundary hedge, set well back from paths and access points.
• Combine its silver foliage with sea holly and ornamental grasses in a sunny gravel garden.
• Grow male and female plants in a spacious edible landscape for berries and wildlife cover.

Garden styles it suits: Coastal, Dry gravel garden, Native hedgerow, Wildlife garden, Edible landscape and Homestead.

Plant it with: Sea holly, Sea thrift, Yarrow, Catmint, Russian sage and Feather reed grass.

Wildlife: Berries feed birds, while dense thorny growth provides shelter and nesting cover. Flowers are wind-pollinated and are not a significant nectar source.

• Unwanted suckers: remove shoots at their origin where practical and monitor regularly; choose another shrub where spreading roots would cause problems.
• Little or no fruit: provide a compatible male pollinator, full sun and adequate moisture while berries develop; avoid heavy pruning.
• Verticillium wilt: branches wilt or die back, sometimes with stained wood; remove badly affected plants and avoid replanting susceptible shrubs in the same soil.
• Root decline in wet soil: improve drainage before planting or move the plant to a freely draining site; watering less will not correct a permanently waterlogged position.

The berries are edible for people, though very tart. Sea buckthorn is not known to be toxic to cats, dogs, horses or people, but animal-specific safety information is limited and large amounts of fruit may cause digestive upset. Thorns can cause puncture wounds.

Where it spreads. Spreads aggressively by root suckers and can also spread through bird-carried seed. It has become invasive in some introduced coastal dune sites in western Britain, including Wales and Scotland, where it can displace open-dune vegetation; it is native to parts of eastern Britain's coast. Escapes and aggressive spread also occur locally in the Canadian Prairies and northern United States.

• Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)

  Has broader, finely toothed green leaves and black berries, rather than narrow silver-backed leaves and orange berries. Its fruit is not an edible substitute.

• Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)

  Also has silvery leaves and thorny stems, but bears yellowish, olive-shaped, mealy fruit rather than tight clusters of juicy orange berries.

• Silver buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea)

  Has opposite leaves and usually red berries; sea buckthorn has alternate leaves and usually orange berries.

The common name refers to its frequent coastal habitat and thorny branches, while rhamnoides means resembling Rhamnus, the buckthorns.

Propagation. Take hardwood cuttings in winter or separate rooted suckers during dormancy. These retain the parent's sex and cultivar characteristics; seedlings vary, and their sex is not apparent until they flower.

Accepted botanical name

Hippophae rhamnoides

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Canada.

Native range

Afghanistan, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, China South-Central, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland and France.

Measured

Soil pH 6.5 to 8. Average height 155 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.