Purging Buckthorn

[Wild-Woman]

As some of you will remember, I'm in the middle of establishing a school environment project which has taken shape greatly over the last month. After sourcing more funds, it's been decided to add to the biodiversity of the project by adding some specific species of plants and trees to bring in a greater range of invertebrates.
The hawthorns have taken well with many, many metres of hedge doing well.
My problem now is where to purchase Purging Buckthorn.Any ideas?
Jules

PS-getting this in for Brimstones

[eeyore]

it is important to get trees of local provenance so you ideally need to find a tree nursery in kent if possible such as Hedging Catalogue - Rumwood Nurseries and Garden Centre - it might be worth eplaining what you are doing and asking for sponsorship in kind - they might give you them free or at least with a discount.

alternatively blackthorn grows from seed pretty fast so you could gather some sloes next autumn then do a tree growing project with the children

if you need further funding you could check out the tree councils grants for trees for schoolshttp://www.treecouncil.org.uk/ - they also have a number of free publications which you might do well to grab too

[Kayleigh]

BLACKTHORN (Prunus spinosa) (Sloe) . Hedging Plants, Trees, Shrubs and Conifers.
you cant beat these for price on mail order and bulk buys. They are not close to you but worth a look. I planted blackthorn and hawthorn last winter and they are doing well now.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by eeyore

it is important to get trees of local provenance so you ideally need to find a tree nursery in kent if possible such as Hedging Catalogue - Rumwood Nurseries and Garden Centre - it might be worth eplaining what you are doing and asking for sponsorship in kind - they might give you them free or at least with a discount.

alternatively blackthorn grows from seed pretty fast so you could gather some sloes next autumn then do a tree growing project with the children

if you need further funding you could check out the tree councils grants for trees for schoolshttp://www.treecouncil.org.uk/ - they also have a number of free publications which you might do well to grab too

Thanks Pete.I'll contact Rumwood on Monday and see what they've got. Hope they have Buckthorn. Looks a good site. jules

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

BLACKTHORN (Prunus spinosa) (Sloe) . Hedging Plants, Trees, Shrubs and Conifers.
you cant beat these for price on mail order and bulk buys. They are not close to you but worth a look. I planted blackthorn and hawthorn last winter and they are doing well now.

Thank you Kayleigh. Got to compare prices.

[eeyore]

just a thought but i wonder about purging buckthorn as a plant for the grounds of a primary school - presumably it is called that through either emetic or laxative results of its fruits or leaves - you wouldnt want your little darlings puking and pooing their way through lessons would you

[Paul mabbott]

This thread has become a little incoherent. People are talking about buckthorn and blackthorn .... Blackthorn (sloe, Prunus spinosa) is a member of the Rosaceae and not related to the buckthorns, members of the Rhamnaceae. There are two buckthorns: alder buckthorn, black dogwood, Frangula alnus and Rhamnus catharticus - as its name suggests, sickening buckthorn, which, I presume, is the shrub originally discussed? They both resemble, in some ways, the dogwoods - Cornus sanguinea, the native dogwood and C. sericea and other decorative dogwoods.
I'll check on this (it's rather late) but, out of the bunch, I'd go for ordinary dogwood in the circumstances .....

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by eeyore

just a thought but i wonder about purging buckthorn as a plant for the grounds of a primary school - presumably it is called that through either emetic or laxative results of its fruits or leaves - you wouldnt want your little darlings puking and pooing their way through lessons would you

He he. Thanks for that Pete. Did google the berries before we decided. The berries are a purgative and apparently they were used years ago for dyes and to make gunpowder burn at an even rate.(We could set up some interesting science experiments )

Don't worry, we'd take into account possible H&S risks and place them inside the environment area,which is entered only with supervision. We also explain the dangers of berries/fungi etc to the children, starting with the nursery,so they're pretty clued up as they get older.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

This thread has become a little incoherent. People are talking about buckthorn and blackthorn .... Blackthorn (sloe, Prunus spinosa) is a member of the Rosaceae and not related to the buckthorns, members of the Rhamnaceae. There are two buckthorns: alder buckthorn, black dogwood, Frangula alnus and Rhamnus catharticus - as its name suggests, sickening buckthorn, which, I presume, is the shrub originally discussed? They both resemble, in some ways, the dogwoods - Cornus sanguinea, the native dogwood and C. sericea and other decorative dogwoods.
I'll check on this (it's rather late) but, out of the bunch, I'd go for ordinary dogwood in the circumstances .....

Yeah-it's ok. We can learn about both .
We've got blackthorn already. We'd like the buckthorn for the possibility of attracting Brimstones. Birds like the berries too.

I'm willing to learn about these species though-the more knowledge the better.

[Tiggrx]

This link may be useful

RHS Plant Finder