Barberry

[Baz]

Hi
As anyone out there tried to grow Barberry of any veriety as a Bonsai
I have several 1inch thick hardwood cuttings in my cold frame going well
I have tryed to find Information on the WWW but I have had verry little sucsess
I woud like to hear from any one who has grown this Shrub as Bonsai


Many thanks and Happy new year to you all

Barry
Z8 England

 

[irene_b]

I did a few years back...Did fine till hubby overwatered it while I was away.
Irene

 

[Bob]

Hi Baz. I have a lawn shrub Barberry that i will lift this spring. Can't tell you much about cuttings. All I can tell you is that this past summer I trimmed it down to nothing and it survived just fine. Here are a couple of not so great pics. The trunks are about 2", and the thorns are a real pain in the...............fingers! Good luck.

 

[Anonymous User]

Barberries have excellent bark, small leaves, and are gaining in popularity as bonsai material. The crimson barberry is an excellent plant to use, as they get good trunks and respond well to bonsai techniques. Some barberries like the typical Japanese Barberry never seem to thicken at all.

The bright yellow wood demands cut paste to avoid drawing the eye to pruning scars. They do not respond well to foliar feeding at all and when feeding care should be taken not to hit the foliage and to stay away from the area directly around the trunk.


Will

 

[Dale Cochoy]

I had a fairly large trunked red barberry forquite a few years and enjoyed it. A couple things I learned were:
1. They don't take to woring easily. Branches crack VERYeasy and even if you don't crack them they might die after moving anyway. Try to clip and grow as much as possible.
2. The dead wood is very soft and punky so it doesn't pay to work too much dead wood into your tree. treating with minwax wood hardener did work a bit though. Dead wood spikes ( and even live branches) can easily be snapped off. Keep some Gorilla Glue around!

Dale

 

[Rick Moquin]

They don't take to wiring easily. Branches crack VERY easy and even if you don't crack them they might die after moving anyway. Try to clip and grow as much as possible.

Dale,

I have run across many discussions surrounding wiring a tree before watering vice after. It is my understanding that this alleviates the chances of branch cracking. Admittedly this does not pertain to all species, but to many. In your experience did it make a difference in the trees response to wiring? or that the species just didn't like having its cells split? Regardless, with all those thorns, clip and grow is the way to go I have a beautiful purple cultivar sitting in my front yard, being ignored that just may get dug up one day (must do that when the missus is at work)

 

[bonsai barry]

Dale,

I have run across many discussions surrounding wiring a tree before watering vice after. It is my understanding that this alleviates the chances of branch cracking. Admittedly this does not pertain to all species, but to many. In your experience did it make a difference in the trees response to wiring? or that the species just didn't like having its cells split? Regardless, with all those thorns, clip and grow is the way to go I have a beautiful purple cultivar sitting in my front yard, being ignored that just may get dug up one day (must do that when the missus is at work)

I've seen conflicting advice regarding whether or not to water then wire. For some species (I think it might have been wisteria or azalea) the advice was to lay off the water for a day or two before wiring. I've also read that it is best to water a juniper before wiring to increase the suppleness of the branches.

 

[Rick Moquin]

... absolutely right Barry, hence why I stated it didn't pertain to all species.

My understanding is that there is less of a chance of breakage with brittle trees if wiring is carefully carried out after water abstinence, than bloated. . My question to Dale was did he experience similar results both ways? as I intend to dig mine up in the future, and I'm curious of course

 

[Anonymous User]

Dale is correct, this species does not wire well at all, dry, wet, or otherwise. The brnaches will snap clean in half without warning, even when being gentle, I have had better success of prolonged shaping with a guy wire coupled with clip and grow techniques.


Will

 

[Rick Moquin]

Thank you muchly.

 

[BonsaiRic]

While doing a landscape job last summer the homeowner told me I could have this dwarf green Barberry that she wanted removed. I wasn't sure how it would transplant since it was early summer. I actually split the plant into two clumps. I put them into coarse media and they seemed to do well. I'll give them another year of growth before any training.

The bark is amazingly plated (doesn't show in pics, sorry) almost like a JBP. The larger clump has the main trunk at 2" diameter. I hope to make them into a clump style. The smaller one could almost be trained as a forest style.

Pretty rugged plants as far as care is concerned...just don't overwater and provide full sun.