Gardner Saltbush

Gardner Saltbush is a short, evergreen native sub-shrub found from southeastern British Columbia east to southwestern Manitoba and south to Colorado and Utah. It grows in semiarid and temperate climates generally between 3,500 and 7,000 feet above sea level and is drought and salt tolerant. It is common and may even dominate salt desert scrub communities, especially clay flats and basins.  Gardner Saltbush is also a component of some sagebrush and mixed-grass prairie communities.

Because it does not burn easily, Gardner Saltbush is planted in fuelbreaks and sagebrush communities to stop or slow fire spread.  It provides nutritious, year-round browse for livestock and wildlife, including mule deer, antelope, rabbits, and mourning doves.  Gardner Saltbush has an extensive branched root system up to 4 feet deep with a lateral spread of up to 7 feet.  Gardner Saltbush is a valuable component of reclamation and soil stabilization mixes, and has been successfully established on such difficult sites as coal mining spoils and processed oil shale where few other plants survived.  Gardner Saltbush seeds benefit from exposure to cold to break dormancy.