Berberis sp.

barberry

The barberry is a thorny plant with yellow flowers. Some varieties are evergreen, some are deciduous. Native barberries are found on many continents, including both Americas, Europe and Asia. Barberry was once a popular hedge plant, but the tendency for some of its species, most notably B. vulgaris, to harbor fungus dangerous to corn and wheat crops has led to its virtual disuse. B. thunbergii and B. verruculosa are fairly disease-free and are making a comeback in popularity.

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Lighting:

 Barberries need light for their leaves to turn their vivid colors. Evergreen species can be placed in semi-shade.

Temperature:

 Best grown in temperate zones. Deciduous barberries are hardy for colder zones than evergreens. All barberries have fine root structures which need a bit of frost protection if grown in shallow pots.

Watering:

 Moderate watering, although the barberry prefers it a bit on the dry side.

Feeding:

 Every two weeks throughout summer, using a very weak liquid solution. Timed release fertilizer is a possibility, if it is not applied near the trunk. Barberries can be sensitive to salts, and the application of straight solid fertilizer can kill a tree. Barberries need little fertilizer, and plants in training pots or in the ground may need no fertilizer at all.

Repotting:

 Every 1-2 years in early spring, before bud burst. Tolerates root pruning well, and up to half of the root mass can be removed. Evergreen species are slightly less tolerant; remove up to 1/3 of the root mass. Use basic bonsai soil.

Styling:

 The barberry flowers on one year old shoots coming off of two year old wood. Consequently, wait until after flowering to prune. Then pinch back new growth as it occurs. Barberries bud back readily. It is easier to shape the barberry through pruning than by wiring, as many species are stiff and have nasty thorns. Wiring can be done throughout the year, but as the barberry grows quickly, check the wiring often. The major challenge with barberry is getting a thick trunk. Choose a nursery plant which is well-developed, and prune it back gradually, over the course of several years. If you desire a single trunked bonsai, watch carefully for the emergence of suckers from the roots, and remove them immediately before they sap trunk vigor.

Propagation:

 From seed, cuttings taken from softwood at the beginning of summer, or by air-layering. In addition, as the barberry suckers from the roots, it can be propigated by division.

Pests etc.:

 Sawflies, aphids, powdery mildew, verticillium wilt, and rust have been reported, but the barberry tends to stay fairly pest-free.

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Some species suitable for bonsai:


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Related posts on Barberry:

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=================================================================

Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 08:10:40 -0400
Sender: Internet Bonsai Club 
From: Nina Shishkoff 

Barberry is certainly the tree of MY week, since spring is when mine looks
its best.  Barberry (mine is Berberis thunbergi 'Aurea') is a fine bonsai.
 It should be purchased at a nursery or dug up from a hedge, with special
attention to selecting a specimen with a thick trunk, since the major
drawback to barberries is the slow development of a good trunk.  The plant
should be pruned back over several years- mine started at 3 feet and ended
up at eight inches after three years.  It should be shaped by selective
pruning, since it will readily bud back at numerous sites, allowing branch
formation almost anywhere you want it.  It is very vigorous and needs to
be pruned several times a year.  New shoots Are long and flexible and
should be trimmed back to the first few buds, but you should pick the
ultimate bud so it will branch off in a good direction once it is free of
apical dominance.  Barberry likes full sun and dry soil and can withstand
extremes of hot and cold.  It has no major pests (except rust).

Nina Shishkoff
Long Island Horticultural Research Lab
39 Sound Ave, Riverhead, NY 11901

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Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 08:14:30 -0700
From: Brent Walston 

Japanese Barberrry, Berberis thunbergii and its cultivars do make nice fat
trunked little bonsai if one can control the suckering. This is the greatest
challenge for the species. The red cultivars sucker profusely with the
exception of the dwarf B. t. 'Crimson Pygmy'. The trick is to plant them in
the ground as landscape plants for about five years and train some lower
branches if you like, but never allow it to sucker which will only dissipate
its energy into multiple trunks instead of forming one large trunk. You can
expect a one to two inch trunk if five years. Full sun is required to keep
that red color. 'Crimson Pygmy' is not quite as red as 'Atropurpurea', it is
a bit more bronzy. The yellow flowers are a real treat in the spring,
especially against the red foliage.

They can be wired but will bite very quickly and are somewhat brittle, so
proceed carefully. They are very easy to root and top prune, and will
withstand radical cuts. With the proper care they may be top and bottom
pruned most of the year. 

Another cultivar of interest is a green dwarf B. t. 'Kobold'. This is a
little slower than 'Crimson Pygmy' but is similar all respects. It has
bright green foliage and the typical yellow flowers. It suckers very little
if at all.

I see that you have listed B. stenophylla. I have found it very difficult
for this species to form a single trunk. It is probably only useful for
clumps. However the dark yellow, almost orange flowers are the best.

Barberry is not fussy about soil or water and the usual bonsai soil mix is
fine. Fertilizing is another matter. They seem to be really sensitive to
salts and I have killed many by simply fertilizing them. Never use a top
dressing of straight solid fertilizer. Use weak solutions of liquid
fertilizer or timed release (not near the trunk). They require little
fertilizer anyway. In a bonsai situation this is usually not a problem, but
if you are growing them in training pot or in the ground fertilizer them
very sparingly if at all.

Brent
Evergreen Gardenworks
bonsai@pacific.net

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Information Sources:

The information for this summary was compiled from Tomlinson's "Complete Book of Bonsai," "The Creative Art of Bonsai," by the Samsons, Coats' "Garden Shrubs and Their Histories," (you know you're becoming a botany geek when you start to read about the history of shrubbery!) and Owen's "Bonsai Identifier." Additional information is from postings by Nina Shishkoff and Brent Walston.


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