Sea Buckthorn hedge project.

A place to chat about anything you like, including non-gardening related subjects. Just keep it clean, please!

Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud

User avatar
Ricard with an H
KG Regular
Posts: 2145
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:16 am
Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.

The recommendation came from this forum and i'm keen to share the progress and details.

I bought 100 plants to be planted at 3 to the metre in order to form a windbreak for my raised bed planting.

Even before I started digging I knew what I was up-against, Pembrokeshire soil is stony, very stony. Just to give you an idea of the difficulty for me with two hip replacements and a painful back not to mention all the other creaking joints I figure that for every cubic metre of soil I have a cubic metre of stone.

Fifty plants are in, only fifty to go.

The amount of stone you see is the amount taken out of the planting trench along that particular length.
Attachments
IMG_0575.JPG
IMG_0575.JPG (179.64 KiB) Viewed 5157 times
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

That looks like an awful lot of very hard work. What a pity they no longer have Bob a Job week !! . You could have hired a couple of boy scouts for and got the remainder planted very cheaply !! Seriously, it must have taken a lot of effort and I hope once the trees are established they will provide good protection. Looks like you have enough material for a new rockery too! :lol:
User avatar
Motherwoman
KG Regular
Posts: 1000
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 6:03 am
Location: Isle of Wight

Certainly looks like you'll have enough for a stone wall in front too! I remember a telly prog where they harvested sea buckthorn, lots of orange berries, very prickly work. Can't remember if they thought it was worth the effort... probably Ray Mears, he eats strange things, like Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-All and his land prawns, or woodlice as we call them. :shock: Should be a good hedge for a windy exposed area though.
User avatar
Ricard with an H
KG Regular
Posts: 2145
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:16 am
Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.

Motherwoman wrote: Should be a good hedge for a windy exposed area though.


We are very close to the sea on three sides and whilst our temperatures are usually higher than inland the desiccating effect of the wind has taken us a few years to understand.

The stone you see is just what came out of a 2/3 metre planting trench, i've had to rob top-soil from other places to reinstate the planting trench.

As regards the harvest of the sea buckthorn, it's leaves and berries which are both very beneficial. Thorns are a problem when harvesting but the main purpose of this hedge is as a wind-break that will survive the salty winds.

At a time i'm amazed at the price of a packet of seed the cost of these bare-root plants each one nearly two foot high from the root also amazed me. At just over £1 each when you buy 100, plus the VAT it really did inspire me.

Two days off from the digging now, before it-all catches up on me. Over three weeks I lost 2.5 kilos from my fighting weight of 75 kilos and I eat like a horse.

Did someone say, "If it doesn't kill you, it'll be good for you". (or words to that effect"
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
sally wright
KG Regular
Posts: 722
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:32 pm
Location: Cambridge

Dear Richard,
you might not be aware that sea buckthorn has male and female plants. For an even coverage of berries on a hedge they should be divided evenly along the hedge. To tell the difference at this time of year look closely at the buds. The male buds are larger and have a coppery coloured sheen. The female ones are smaller and slightly darker.
Regards Sally Wright.
User avatar
Geoff
KG Regular
Posts: 5575
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 5:33 pm
Location: Forest of Bowland
Been thanked: 129 times

Sounds like I should keep quiet about suggesting it.
User avatar
Motherwoman
KG Regular
Posts: 1000
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 6:03 am
Location: Isle of Wight

Given soil like that I can understand why you need raised beds. Take it easy, it'll still be there tomorrow.

Motherwoman
User avatar
Ricard with an H
KG Regular
Posts: 2145
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:16 am
Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.

Motherwoman wrote:Given soil like that I can understand why you need raised beds.


Oh-yes, I try to describe our stony soil though most people don't realise it's as bad as in the photo I posted. In the fields above us the farmer is spreading muck ready for the plow, can you imagine what it's like for the plow. You can them clattering through the soil then every now-and-then a monster comes up. Ten years ago the farmer told me that stone travels upwards through the earth, I thought it was a bit far-fetched.

Sally.
I did become aware about sexing the sea buckthorn though the description didn't sound easy to spot. Now you've mentioned a slightly different way of telling the difference i'll have a look to see how I did. I still have the option of pushing an extra plant into the row to get the balance correct. The nursery didn't seem to think I need to be concerned because they claimed a good mix of the two plants and that I didn't need many ladies.

I'm keen to get a good harvest from the planting as well as a sturdy windbreak, it'll make make the very hard work all worth-while, sea buckthorn juice with champagne sounds nice but I don't have champagne type money.

Here is another photo of the planting trench, it's nominally 15" deep and yes I do intend to glyphosate the grass at the edges then lay a well-rotted cow-poo mulch.
Attachments
IMG_0578.JPG
IMG_0578.JPG (229.14 KiB) Viewed 5109 times
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
User avatar
FelixLeiter
KG Regular
Posts: 830
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:18 pm
Location: East Yorkshire

A very nicely planted row, and an excellent choice of hedge. Progress is certainly better than it is around here; spring still seems to be very far away.

Me, I would have put most of what was excavated back into the trench, except for the very biggest rocks. The buckthorn could care not a fig about the stones. It is adapted to a craggy environment. For the same reason, I'm not sure a mulch of poo will be of benefit — it might encourage too much sappy growth, which is not durable. The larger stones could be placed between plants, to keep moisture in.
Allotment, but little achieved.
User avatar
Ricard with an H
KG Regular
Posts: 2145
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:16 am
Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.

FelixLeiter wrote:A very nicely planted row, and an excellent choice of hedge. Progress is certainly better than it is around here; spring still seems to be very far away.


Felix, thank-you, and you're not the first to mention I could have left most of the stone in the trench though the other comment came from an unqualified source and from a bloke who always looks for the easy option so I went with what I had started.

Also, I accessed some information from the internet that was more to do with sea buckthorn farming in Canada than forming a hedge in Pembrokeshire. This was the source ; Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Summerland, BC V0H 1Z0.

To be honest, there is enough stone either side and beneath each plant so I thought the plant might have a difficult time getting started if I didn't make extra effort. I'm also using mycorrhizal fungi on each root then watering in with last years nettle/comfrey stew which is in a massive plastic drum and still stinking from last year.

But thanks for the advice, at the very least it's given me more confidence and I did agonise over the costs, not to mention the work that I really am not suited to these days.

I should have planted this hedge before I built the raised beds though now it's all coming together I have space for two more raised beds so I better source some top-soil.

I'll certainly use the stone as a mulch over the planting, other than what you see in the photo there is a large pile in the corner of the paddock. About six barrows full.

I'll have to keep the grass under control with glyphosate or i'll end up damaging the plant collars with the brush-cutter/strimmer.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
User avatar
Ricard with an H
KG Regular
Posts: 2145
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:16 am
Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.

sally wright wrote: The female ones are smaller and slightly darker.
Regards Sally Wright.


I'm now concerned I may have made a mistake, I studied the plants-buds and cannot see the differences you describe. The only obvious difference is some plants have lots of buds and some don't.

Most of the plants in the ground have healthy looking buds which suggests I haven't balanced the mix, do the two sexes have to be close to each other or will within six metres be OK ?

The only information I found online refers to orchard-planting where male plants are placed every fifth plant in every-other row, intuition tells me that orchard planting might be quite different to hedge-row planting.

I'll keep looking but I do have an attention deficit when it comes to the internet.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
User avatar
Geoff
KG Regular
Posts: 5575
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2005 5:33 pm
Location: Forest of Bowland
Been thanked: 129 times

I wouldn't get too hung up on sexing your bushes, the distances won't be huge I'm sure they'll sort themselves out.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic