Barberry, a great shrub for the landscape

June 10th, 2007

Two Barberry Varieties, yellow & redThere is something to be said about barberries. They do not have beautiful flowers. Their scent can be bad. Their foliage, though nice, is beat by other plants. And yet I find myself thinking of them as one of the best bushes for the landscape.

The reasons? Sheer growability. Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) are hardy to zone 4, can take sun or shade, wet or dry, and will come back strong after a beating. We had one growing up along our foundation when we had new siding put on. Because of the thorns I needed to remove it so the workers could do their thing. I cut it down, and since I was too lazy to dig it up (it was quite mature) I just attacked it’s root ball with an axe and left it covered with debris. It was stepped on and worked on for months… and the plant came back and grew to 4 feet the next year. Any plant that can take that kind of abuse cannot be all bad.

Critters also will not eat barberry. It has been used as a herbal medicine and apparently it has a very bitter taste. I know it’s yellowish wood certainly does not look appetizing. So it is either from the taste, or the aforementioned spikes, but deer & rabbits leave it alone, and I mean that. I know in many gardening catalogues I’ll read “Deer tend to avoid.” and think its BS because I’ve seen deer eat that shrub before, but if anything is truly critter resistant, barberry is.

Most barberry you will find in nurseries and garden centers will be of the burgundy variety, and thats great. It is important to use contrasting colors in garden design and Barberries are a great reddish plant to use. However, there exists a newer variety that has yellow tinged foliage (pictured, along with a red variety). This variety is harder to find but with both a red and a yellow barberry you have all sorts of planting options available to you.

If there is one bad thing about barberries it is that they are deciduous, no winter interest except for a few small berries that the birds quickly eat. Though maybe further south some variety stay everygreen I hear.

So, they aren’t really standouts in any particular category, but they can be grown more or less by everyone, in almost any location, and can provide 2 nice non-green foliage colors to liven up your landscape. All that together makes them a great choice for your yard. My only word of advice would be to not plant them too close to paths of windows. Paths because of the thorns, and windows because their flowers are a little pungent (though you have to get really close to smell them).

Related posts:

  1. Stop Rabbits (and Deer) from Eating Shrubs in Winter
  2. Welcome

Posted in: Gardening, Landscape Design, Planting Ideas » 

10 Responses to “Barberry, a great shrub for the landscape”

  1. Double-D  Says:
    June 11th, 2007 at 9:29 am

    I just planted two red and one yellow barberry in front of my house. Western exposure gets H-O-T in the summer, but thought they could take it. The yellow has already lost a lot of its leaves and the reds are starting to wilt. Any suggestions?

  2. Administrator  Says:
    June 11th, 2007 at 10:03 am

    Water them.

    I had the same problem with my newly planted golden ones (although, never with burgundy ones). The solution was just to water them.

    Like all newly planted plants they need time to establish themselves and shortly after planting their roots are usually not at full efficiency.

    Most of my barberries have a hot western exposure up against a grey brick house with stone mulch. All of which radiates heat. They’re all doing fine except for that initial leaf drop from the newly planted golden ones (they’ve since recovered).

    Of course, it could also be a soil problem, since these are new plantings for all you know the soil could be bad/contaminated, or something of that nature. I’ve got this one spot up near my house that is about 2ft square and everything planted there dies, outside the radius its fine, but this one small spot in poison. I think someone must have spilt a chemical there at one point.

  3. Tracy  Says:
    June 11th, 2007 at 11:24 am

    But, and this is a big but, Japanese Barberry is officially listed as an invasive in 20 states, with more (like my state, MN) looking at adding it soon. Yes, they can take all sorts of adversity, but I’m not sure I would recommend planting it, especially anywhere east of the Mississippi.

    See this link for more information: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/beth1.htm.

  4. Administrator  Says:
    June 11th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    Huh… I have never seen a barberry growing in the wild, only in gardens, and I’ve never had a seedling or other volunteer from my bushes around my house (in total I have around 20). Nor has any one plant expanded vegetatively to an invasive level (unlike something like japanese knotweed).

    I wonder if the hybrids I, and most gardeners plant, are in fact sterile. It would make sense.

  5. Mr Greenhouse  Says:
    June 19th, 2007 at 7:25 am

    They grow well over here in the UK aswell. Great for all the reasons you mention, but the lack of winter interest always puts me off.

    Any ideas for something of a similar size with a bit more going on in winter?

  6. john peter thompson  Says:
    August 13th, 2007 at 3:56 am

    Any thoughts on the possibility of this particular species being perhaps invasive?
    Having just posted an essay, I sure wish I had waited for your posting.

  7. tomg  Says:
    April 21st, 2008 at 5:50 am

    Very invasive, please do not plant or recommend barberry.
    Please research and blog on how to remove/conquer barberry.
    Connecticut DEP is researching a way to burn the buds in Spring to kill it. ref Paul Capotosto, CT DEP, (860) 642-7239

  8. Administrator  Says:
    April 21st, 2008 at 6:37 am

    Again… I have dozens in my landscape and have never seen so much as a single seedling, anywhere, from any of them.

  9. Dawn Andersson  Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    With the exception of the nasty job of having to remove fall leaves from the thorny branches of my barberry, I have nothing but joy from my hardy, faithful and beautiful barberry shrubs. I have both the rounded crumson pygmy and the more upright “spiny” variety. I have 50 plus shrubs, both individually and as hedge features throughout my 2-acre landscaped garden. Never have I ever encountered a “volunteer” seedling. They are truly the favorites of my garden.

  10. Zach  Says:
    May 27th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    The species selected by states for banning as invasive species is very bizarre. If “invasive” means spreading easily in the wild, then some really are, but others are not. For example, my state bans sale of Norway maples, but in 50+ years of looking at trees in woods, fields, etc., I’ve never seen them grow anywhere except in suburban neighborhoods.

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