Have you discovered the many benefits of barberries for your garden design? Then plant the magnificent ornamental trees professionally so that they show off their most beautiful side. These instructions answer all important questions about the location, planting time and planting of sour thorn.
How to plant barberry correctly?
Choose a sunny to semi-shady location for the barberry and plant in spring or autumn. Dig pits twice the size of the root ball, add compost and horn shavings, position the plant, backfill, tamp down the substrate and water generously. Choose the planting distance depending on the species and variety.
What location does a barberry want?
Barberries shine in all their glory in sunny to partially shaded locations. Only in full shade do sour thorn bushes suffer from growth depression. Evergreen Berberis species prefer a sunny location so that their shiny green foliage is not marred by sunburn. Furthermore, the ornamental trees thrive excellently in normal garden soil and commercial pot plant soil.
When is the best time to plant sour thorn?
Young bushes in containers can be purchased in tree nurseries and garden centers. The advantage of this is that you can plant barberry at any time of year as long as the ground is not frozen. In order to give the decorative shrubs a perfect start to plant life, we recommend spring as the best time to plant evergreen species. The time window for planting bare-root and deciduous sourthorn bushes opens in autumn.
Planting barberry – how to do it correctly?
In the first step of an exemplary planting, rake the soil at the site well, pull out the weeds and remove old roots. Beforehand, please place the potted root balls in a bucket of water until no more air bubbles bubble. The steps continue:
- Dig planting pits with twice the radius of the root ball
- Add mature compost (€12.00 on Amazon) and horn shavings to the excavation
- Unpot the barberry and position it in the middle of the pit
- Fill with enriched soil to such an extent that the previous planting depth is maintained
- Press down the substrate and water generously without causing waterlogging
- Spread a layer of mulch made from bark mulch, leaves, wood chips or compost
Please adjust the planting distance to the species and variety. The majestic wild species Berberis vulgaris should be planted at a distance of 100 centimeters, whereas dwarf barberry (Berberis thunbergii) should be arranged in rows or group plants at a distance of 30 to 50 centimeters. To ensure that blood barberry 'Atropurpurea' quickly forms an opaque hedge, a planting distance of 40 to 50 centimeters has proven to be effective.
Tip
The strong thorns, which are up to 4 centimeters long, pose a significant risk of injury when planting and caring for barberries. Please wear thorn-proof work gloves with long cuffs and safety glasses when dealing with a sour thorn.
