Bush pushed for SW drought-tolerant landscaping

Commercial nurseries are turning a curious eye toward a plant that New Mexico agricultural researchers hope will take off as an ornamental and fruit-bearing addition for small-scale growers.

The sea berry shrub, also known as sea buckthorn, has striking gray-green, almost silver foliage with clusters of small, oblong-shaped yellow or orange edible berries.

The shrub was recently showcased during a field-day demonstration at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Los Lunas as part of the research by Ron Walser, NMSU extension fruit specialist.

The drought-tolerant plant has the potential to be used as an ornamental plant for water-wise landscaping and for the food value packed into its nutritious, antioxidant-rich berries, Walser said.

"It's the first time we've studied this plant for use in New Mexico," Walser said. "I was looking for potential new crops that small growers could utilize. It's something different and new for our growers."

The 8-foot-tall shrub, which originated in Siberia, is widely grown and the berries cultivated in Russia, Eastern Europe and China.

The shrub has also been growing in North America for hundreds of years, Walser said, and is available in Canada and the Northwest states of Washington, Oregon and Alaska in the United States.

With berries packed with high levels of antioxidants including vitamins C, A and E and cholesterol-lowering phytosterols, a medicinal-use market has sprung up for the mildly tart fruit, Walser said.

"They actually drink the berry juice in Europe, China, Russia. The (seed) oil is used in cosmetics and creams, and it's very popular - so popular that China is starting to export," Walser said.

"(The berries) have a desirable flavor. Most people describe it as a tart pineapple taste," he added.

Walser is currently growing 35 sea berry plants from five varieties at the Los Lunas station.

He started his research with the plant in 2007, and this is the first year that his test plants produced fruit. The plants typically will bear fruit by the third growing season.

Sea berry is a very adaptable plant that can grow in a wide range of soils in climate temperatures ranging from over 100 degrees to 40 below zero, Walser said.

"The root will also fix nitrogen like legume plants, meaning it adds nitrogen to the soil so you don't need much fertilizer," he said.

Walser said the shrub is easily propagated by both its seeds and roots and has no pest or disease. He irrigates the plants using a drip system.

The plant does have an extensive root system and will create sucker plants, Walser said.

"You can control their spread by keeping the sucker (plants) mowed off," he said. "They're like blackberries - they will form a thicket if you let them go."

One male plant is recommended for every six to eight female plants for good pollination.

Walser said any implication that he is introducing a new plant species that could become an invasive species in the state is incorrect.

"People say it will become like the Russian olive or salt cedar (trees) and I tell them in places where they've grown it, it hasn't been a problem," Walser said. "It can only propagate through suckering, which can be controlled. Salt cedar and Russian olive are spread by seed by the wind and they really get spread out.

"I don't see a potential problem like that with sea berry," Walser said.