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Common barberry is one of the representatives of shrubs of the Barberry family, which includes about 600 species. This southern plant has long been adapted to life in temperate regions, where it is cultivated as a source of medicinal berries, as well as an ornamental plant used in various types of landscape design.
Description of barberry
The plant is native to South-West Asia. Currently, the natural range covers, in addition to the Arabian Peninsula, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and South-Eastern Europe. The plant in the wild prefers edges, slopes and small lawns; in general, these are areas protected from the wind but exposed to the sun.
The name of the common barberry in Latin is Berberis vulgaris. This is a fairly tall plant (up to 250 cm), which is a shrub with very strong and lignified rhizomes. The outside of the plant is covered with light brown bark, the inside of which has an unusual bright yellow color for the plant.The roots of the plant are creeping, consisting of several large rhizomes.
The shoots are erect, with virtually no slope. Some shoots have well-defined ribbing. The color of the shoots is yellowish or purple. The shoots have a kind of “specialization”, depending on their length. Leaves are formed on shortened shoots. On elongated shoots, thorns form instead of leaves.
The leaves of the plant are alternate, quite thin, mostly elliptical in shape. Their length reaches 4 cm, and their width is approximately 2 times less. Closer to the base, the leaves narrow into a wedge. The top of the leaf is predominantly rounded, in rare cases it is pointed. The spines have a complex shape - usually they are 3 or 5 separate. Their length reaches 2 cm.
The color of barberry leaves, even within the same species, can vary significantly - from bright green to various shades of yellow or red. Some subspecies can change their color during the season, which is used in landscape design.
A photo of common barberry is presented below:
How the common barberry blooms
The common barberry bush blooms in late April or early May, depending on weather conditions: the warmer the weather, the earlier flowering will begin. The flowering period lasts about a month. Pollination is carried out by insects. The plant is monoecious, however, for a larger number of fruits, cross-pollination and the presence of at least 2-3 plants in the garden at a distance of no more than 30 m from each other are recommended.
The flowers of the plant are yellow and small in size (6-10 mm in diameter). Each flower consists of six sepals and petals. Flowers are collected in raceme-type inflorescences. Each brush contains from one and a half to three dozen flowers.The length of the inflorescence is about 60 mm.
The flowers are arranged as follows: at the base there is a nectary, orange in color, a large pistil is surrounded by 6 stamens located on the side opposite the petals.
The fruits of the plant ripen for a relatively long time - after setting, at least two months pass before the ellipsoidal berries appear, which within a month change their color to bright red, in rare cases, purple. The seeds of the plant are short and flattened, up to 7 mm in length.
Use in landscape design
Ornamental trees and shrubs of common barberry are widely used in landscape design. You could even say that this plant is used almost everywhere. It is included in the design of the following elements and groups:
- alpine slides or rockeries;
- as free-standing landscape elements;
- as the central element of group planting;
- for edging lawns or flower beds;
- for the formation of hedges;
- for decorating the perimeters of flower beds;
- to create high borders, etc.
It is believed that a rock garden is the most optimal place for planting barberries. Moreover, they use both plants of medium height (up to 1.5-2 m) and dwarf varieties (no more than 0.5 m in height). In one case, barberry is the top of the composition, and in the latter case it is used as a transitional element, softening too much difference in the growth of certain plants.
The use of barberry in rock gardens is also due to its excellent combination with other plants, in particular conifers. In addition, the wide palette of leaves allows you to perfectly combine it with other representatives of the fauna.In autumn, most varieties of barberry change their color and can retain their leaves for quite a long time, maintaining the overall decorative effect of the entire composition.
By using barberry as a border plant or hedge, you can guarantee to protect your lawn or flower bed from unwanted guests. Dense thickets of this shrub create an almost insurmountable barrier for both two-legged and four-legged visitors to the garden.
A barberry hedge can be either natural or regularly trimmed. The plant tolerates pruning well and can be used to make a barrier of almost any shape. The use of such design elements can turn a garden or some corner of it into a secluded place, hidden from prying eyes.
For small gardens, it is very practical to use barberry in the form of a single planting as a free-standing plant. Since the variety of plant bush shapes or colors is very large, such a design will fit perfectly into any design.
A well-grown shrub will look very organic in almost any garden design style. Small inflorescences covering the shoots of the plant in large quantities will not leave anyone indifferent. Despite the love of barberry for sunny areas, its single plantings can also be carried out in partial shade. Usually, common purple barberry with variegated shades of leaves is planted in open areas; bushes with green or dark green foliage are mainly planted in shade or partial shade.
Barberry goes well with various plants, which ensures its use in various flower beds or mixborders.And the change in leaf color depending on the time of year provides an even greater variety of decorative solutions.
So barberry goes well with lilac, jasmine or wisteria. Of the autumn flowers, it gets along well with asters, chrysanthemums or September flowers. By combining different plants, taking into account their growth and other characteristics, you can create very interesting compositions in which the emphasis at different times of the year will be on different representatives of the flowerbed population.
What is made from common barberry
Common barberry berries have a sweet taste with a barely noticeable sourness. Mostly various sweets are prepared from them:
- jam;
- jams;
- jelly;
- marmalade
Various juices, syrups and nectars are also obtained from barberry berries.
In addition, barberry is included in many recipes for traditional and classical medicine. Not only its berries, but also its leaves, roots and bark are used for medicinal purposes. The main diseases in the treatment of which barberry products can be used:
- liver and kidney diseases;
- gallbladder disease;
- various pathologies of the stomach and intestines;
- oral diseases;
- eye diseases;
- diseases of the cardiovascular system;
- diseases of the organs of vision;
- scurvy;
- tuberculosis.
In addition, barberry is used as a component for a wide range of homeopathic preparations.
Planting and caring for common barberry
Caring for common barberry is extremely simple and does not require the gardener to have serious skills. The main thing is not to allow it to grow or thicken excessively.The growth rate of barberry is moderate, so the crown will have to be formed almost every season.
Preparing seedlings and planting area
Growing barberry is best done in a sunny area; shade or partial shade is a compromise. Nevertheless, the plant will feel good there, but its growth rate will be somewhat slower.
Barberry prefers light soils with an average degree of moisture. However, it can be grown in any soil. It is advisable to use dry soils, since the plant tolerates drought better than waterlogging.
Landing rules
Planting is best done in early autumn or late spring. Seedlings must contain at least 4 buds on each shoot. Planting is carried out in such a way that the distance between the bushes is from 50 cm to 1 m.
On poor soils, a complex fertilizer for ornamental garden plants is added to the holes, containing the entire necessary set of microelements: nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
Watering and fertilizing
Watering is carried out exclusively as the soil dries. Usually this happens once every 15-20 days.
The first fertilizing is done in the second year after planting. It consists of nitrogenous fertilizers (urea at a concentration of 0.2% in an amount of 10 liters per bush). In the same season, the bushes are mulched at the end of autumn with a layer of peat. In subsequent years, this procedure is repeated.
Trimming
Pruning consists of sanitary and formative. Sanitation is carried out in early spring. Its technology is standard: dry, diseased and damaged branches are removed.It also removes shoots growing “inside” the bush.
Formative pruning is carried out depending on the chosen role of the plant in landscape design. It is done twice per season, usually in early summer and early autumn. The “format” of pruning and its intensity depend on the chosen shape of the shrub and its place in the overall composition.
Preparing for winter
Common barberry can tolerate frosts down to -45 °C, so it does not need preparation for winter. Even young plants can easily withstand the harshest winters without additional shelter.
Reproduction
Barberries reproduce in standard ways:
- dividing the bush;
- using cuttings;
- layering;
- offspring;
- seeds.
There are no particular preferences, but it is believed that it is preferable to propagate barberry by layering or cuttings.
Diseases and pests
Barberry is quite unpretentious and easily copes with diseases on its own. The only problem a gardener may encounter is powdery mildew. They fight it by repeatedly spraying the plant with a solution of colloidal sulfur until the symptoms disappear.
Among the pests, the barberry aphid should be noted, which, attacking the leaves of the plant, leads to its drying out. This parasite is small in size and difficult to detect, so you should regularly inspect the underside of the leaves. As a means of combating aphids, it is recommended to use a soap solution at a concentration of 0.3%.
Conclusion
Common barberry, due to its decorative properties, is widely used in landscape design of gardens, dachas and personal plots. This plant can be used in various combinations with others and tolerates cold climates well.
