For the love of buckthorn

I wanted to bring up Rhamnus cathartica, common buckthorn, as a potential tree species for soil restoration. One of the egregious charges leveled against them is that of “increasing soil carbon and nitrogen through leaf litter”. Apparently this increases earthworm activity in the soil, which is supposedly a very bad thing. I’m not so sure….

I have had a lot of success growing ramps and trillium under buckthorn. Despite the supposed allelopathy and worm-mongering habits, these plants love the rich soil and cool shade cast by the buckthorn tree. The ramps have been happily blossoming and expanding for year after year, and are set to do so again this summer. I think that buckthorn has some potential for restoring abused soils.

The wood is also very hard and strong, and stunningly beautiful. It is of a small diameter though, and so not good for larger items. I am planning on making an ax handle from a buckthorn tree I cut down this spring (to open up a rich, moist spot for some currant bushes). A woodturner friend is especially excited to try turning buckthorn this year. Unfortunately, buckthorn wood smells quite awful when burnt, which may not be an issue for rocket mass heaters.

Places where I’ve cut buckthorn trees tend to turn out diverse and lovely and I suspect their having grown there may have something to do with it. I find that often small, gentle changes produce more diversity than dramatic or intense disturbances generally though…

What are some good things about buckthorn that you have found?

I should also mention glossy buckthorn while here! I’ve eaten a few of the berries before and been none the worse—they aren’t too bad. But their best characteristic seems to be the flowers, which bloom over a long season, attracting hosts of pollinators, especially small (native?) bees, hoverflies, and the like.

They have alternate rather than opposite leaves. The bark is smooth, unlike Common’s rough bark which resembles black birch. The wood is much softer.

What are your feelings about Sea buckthorn trees?
The orange berries are extremely tart, but highly nutritious.

Hi Folks, I also love buckthorn, but I think there is a confusion here between some very different species here,
Purging buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus) and sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), the last being a member of the Elaeagnaceae family and not related to the first two! I have written about these plants for their medicinal values and other uses plus grown them in UK. So:
Sea buckthorn is a fantastic source of vitamin C in berries and can produce prodigious quantities when a small tree. The problem is it will not grow and fruit in shade of any kind. You need both sexes to get fruit. Harvest is tough because of the spiky branches but there are ways to make easier.
Purging buckthorn bark is a powerful laxative, so strong the bark needs to be aged 12 months before use, and traditionally more used with animals, not so much with humans today. The tree does have large spikes and can grow to hawthorn-ish size, lovely wood and good for birds nesting. Likes a wettish site.
Alder buckthorn is my favourite, as it really does provide tiny flowers for pollinators all summer in our cottage garden, responds well to pruning to keep in size of a small garden, has a more useable bark for laxative purposes (comparable to mainstream laxatives, taken at night and the anthraquinone content causes gut peristalsis about 6-8 hours later).
Some people report these plants as invasive but I agree that this is probably not deserved for the benefits they can offer if well-managed.
Cheers
Anne
 

M Ljin wrote:One of the egregious charges leveled against them is that of “increasing soil carbon and nitrogen through leaf litter”.

That would definitely give it a big plus in my book ! I'm not sure enough to make me introduce it (I haven't any here at the moment) but I'm interested what other uses people come up with for it. I could be persuaded!