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                             Purging Buckthorn  (Rhamnus cathartica)

 

     

 

 

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Purging Buckthorn is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are dioecious (two homes): i.e  flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. The plants are pollinated by insects. It has an upright habit.

 

It is very fast growing and can tolerate most soils and shade conditions, although ours do best in an open, suny position. It must have been widespread in hedgerows as the bark was used as a purgative, diuretic and laxative. Presumably this was also why the Brimstone was such a common butterfly in the past.

We planted 25 Purging Buckthorn because I had kept seeing the odd Brimstone Butterfly fluttering around each spring. As Purging Buckthorn is one of the foodplants for the larvae of this butterfly we thought that we could establish a colony of them.

 

This has worked to a small extent as I have seen eggs on the leaves and have successfully beaten the larvae. However the numbers have not increased much as yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cuttings should be prepared from healthy, vigorous current years wood. They should be 12" - !8" in lenght with 3-4 buds above ground with the rest below ground and planted into a weed-free bed. I leave the shoots in the ground for 2 years before transplanting: otherwise the root system will not be strong enough to survive relocation.

 

 

Layering can only be done once a tree has been coppiced and new shoots allowed to regrow. It is best done in early spring. Take a healthy, low-lying stem or, if none is suitable, then partially cut through a stem and bend it down until it lies parallel to the ground. Create a narrow slit trench in the gound and lie them stem in. Cover over the stem with soil, then peg it down to ensure a firm contact with the soil. The end 12" of the stem should be bent upwards; the bark at the base of the bend scraped off; the bend pegged down; and the uprigtht section loosely tied to a bamboo cane.

 

The idea is that the end of the stem will root where the bend is; however the most likely thing is that roots will appear at all of the intermediate buds and the end of the stem will die.

 

 

 

 

 

Please see our standard Planting & Aftercare notes.

 

 

 

 

We regard this as an amenity/wildlife shrub and have not attempted any formative pruning.

 

 

 

 

       

No experience as yet.