Barberry ordinary - a plant whose name is familiar to many from childhood. But not all gardeners show interest in this culture, and in vain! In addition to the useful properties of almost every part of it, barberry is a surprisingly plastic shrub in the design of any garden plot.

Description of the species and varieties

Culture is beautiful at any time of the year: in late spring and early summer, it gives the aroma of yellow flower brushes, then its branches are strewn with numerous edible fruits that turn scarlet in color by the end of the season, and the luxury of autumn foliage in yellow, orange and crimson shades literally captivates the eye. And even in winter, the clear graphics of arched shoots give a special touch to the snowy garden.

Barberry ordinary (Berberis vulgaris) is called a shrub up to three meters tall. Under natural conditions, it is found in the mountains and in the forest-steppe zone, and introduced into the culture, due to the variety of decorative forms, which differ in the color of leaves of an ellipsoidal shape. In late May - early June, an adult plant is strewn with yellow panicled inflorescences, attracting numerous insects with its aroma. Edible fruits have a barrel-shaped shape, up to 12 mm long, in the stage of biological ripeness they are bright red, they do not fall even in winter, helping birds in winter without feed.

Attention! The unripe fruits of barberry can become a source of poisoning and indigestion.

The initial form of barberry ordinary has emerald green leaves, but there are other variations of this species that are highly decorative.

Among the most common varieties, or rather, varietoforms, it should be noted:

  • Atropurpurea (Atropurpura), or purple barberry, is a shrub up to 2 m tall with dark purple leaves, moreover, this color persists throughout the growing season and only by mid-autumn does it change to a crimson and bright scarlet color.
  • Albovariegata (Albovariegata) is distinguished by the presence of numerous whitish strokes and stains on the dark greens of leaf blades. Shrub height is moderate, up to 1 m.
  • Aureomarginata (Aureomarginata) - a stunningly decorative shrub, due to the presence of a golden border and spots on the emerald green foliage.
  • Serrata (Serrata) - this variety is characterized by the presence of green leaves with serrated edges.
  • Alba (Alba) and Lutea (Lutea) - varieties that differ from the traditional form of fruit color. The first is white, the second is yellow.

The nuances of growing barberry ordinary

This plant is considered problem-free, completely undemanding in care and can withstand the adverse conditions associated with sparse watering, as well as gas contamination and dustiness of the air. But some conditions for its cultivation must be observed in order to achieve not only a decorative effect, but also an annual harvest of healthy berries.

  • Barberry tolerates partial shade, but its purple and variegated forms must be grown under full lighting throughout the day, otherwise the effective color of the leaves will gradually degenerate into normal, green.
  • For barberries, light or loamy drained soils with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5 are suitable.
  • Close groundwater threatens the successful cultivation of this plant.

Outdoor landing

Barberries are best planted in spring, because at a young age they are too sensitive to adverse wintering conditions.

For single 2-3-year-old bushes, the landing pit is made shallow - a maximum of 30 cm and the same in diameter. If a hedge is supposed to be planted, then dig a trench up to 40 cm deep.

For refueling, pits mix garden soil, humus and sand in equal parts, and 50-60 g of superphosphate are also added. After planting, the barberry bush is well shed with water and mulched with sawdust or other organic materials with a layer of up to 8 cm.

Information! On acidic soils, 300 g of dolomite (or lime) and 200 g of wood ash should be added under each plant.

When planting ordinary barberry on heavy soils, the pit is made larger than usual and filled with light permeable soil, and drainage is made of broken brick or small stones at the base with a layer of 10-15 cm.

Shrub care

Young bushes of barberry in the first years of life grow quite slowly, increasing the root system more than the aerial part.

  • After planting, it is necessary to maintain an optimal level of humidity in the root zone until the plant has finally taken root. A great help in this is the presence of a mulching layer of sufficient thickness.
  • In preparation for the first wintering, you can “warm” the roots by pouring a bucket of dry humus into the trunk circle. It is recommended to additionally cover young plants with the help of spruce branches or a layer of dry foliage. If in severe winter the aerial part of barberry freezes, then the plant will recover from the lower sleeping buds that have fallen into the hilling zone.
  • In early spring, young barberry can be fertilized with a portion of nitrogen fertilizer for better development of the vegetative mass. To do this, use a urea solution at the rate of 20 g per 10 liters of water. Adult fruit-bearing specimens need to be fed with a complex mineral fertilizer containing micronutrients.
  • At the end of summer, 15 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium sulfate should be added under each bush. It is recommended to fertilize barberries not annually, but after 2 to 3 years, but it is absolutely necessary to add a bucket of good humus or compost to the trunk circle every fall.
  • The overgrown bushes need a systematic pruning, which is carried out at any time after flowering, because barberry bears fruit on the growths of last year. In the spring, only sanitary pruning is done, removing all frozen and broken shoots. Forming adult bushes, it is permissible to cut the shoots to half their length.

Breeding methods

The green-leafed form of barberry ordinary can be propagated using seeds. Their germination rate is quite high - 85%. Seeds are washed out of the pulp of crushed fruits, and then immediately sown on a planting bed, where they will undergo a natural cold treatment during the fall and winter. During spring sowing, seeds need preliminary stratification at a temperature of +1 - 4 ° C for 1.5 - 2 months. Variegated forms with this method of reproduction rarely preserve the color of the mother bush, therefore, vegetative methods are recommended for them.

Adult 4 - 5 year old bushes can be divided by digging them and cutting the rhizomes with a secateurs or garden hacksaw into 2 - 3 parts. This operation is performed in early spring, as soon as the soil thaws.

The green cuttings method allows to obtain a large amount of planting material. But for this you need to correctly choose the time to cut the cuttings. Usually this period occurs in June, but you should not focus on the date, but on the maturity of the young growth.

The shoot should not bend in the hands, but break apart with a crunch, then the rooting of the cuttings will be much higher than usual.

However, without special stimulators of root formation, you still can not do.

  1. The lower ends of the cuttings 7-10 cm long (with two nodes and one internode) are placed in a solution of "Heteroauxin", indolylbutyric acid (IMC) or dusted with "Kornevin."
  2. Cuttings are planted in boxes or in a special cutter, where ideal greenhouse conditions are created: high humidity, ambient light and moderate temperature.
  3. A mixture of sand and neutral peat (3: 1) is used as a substrate.

It usually takes about a month to root, after which young plants are grown for 1 to 2 years.

Disease and Pest Prevention

Good care for the barberry shrub includes measures to prevent diseases inherent in this crop.

  • First of all, it is powdery mildew, which thoroughly spoils the decorative, primarily purple leaf form. To prevent the occurrence of MF, a 0.5% solution of soda ash is used, together with an ash extract. The first treatment is carried out on young blooming leaves, and then the procedure is repeated every 3 weeks.
  • Rust is caused by a fungus, spores of which can be seen on the underside of the leaves, and they are grouped in convex “pads” that look like orange spots of different sizes on top. Further spread of the disease is characterized by drying out of the shoots and falling of most of the foliage. Treatment with any copper-containing preparation should stop the progression of the disease, but the affected parts of the plant must be removed and burned outside the site.
  • Another unpleasant disease found in barberries is bacteriosis. Initially, numerous small dark spots appear on the leaves and growths of the current year, which eventually acquire a maroon color. Then the falling of leaves begins, the drying and dying off of the shoots, ugly flows appear on the branches. Left untreated, barberry can lead to bacterial cancer. Time-tested, a means of combating this disease is spraying with a solution of copper oxychloride at a rate of 40 g per 10 liters of water.

Pests rarely annoy this plant, although barberry aphid can pretty much spoil the appearance of the bush. Aphid colonies accumulate on the tops of young shoots and in inflorescences, depriving hopes of a crop.During flowering and at the end of it, it is recommended to use Biotlin, which is less toxic than traditional insecticides, such as Actara, Inta-Vir and others.

Useful properties of barberry ordinary

Not many garden plants boast an extensive list of beneficial properties, but common barberry is one of them.

In folk medicine

In phytotherapy, all parts of the plant are used: fruits, leaves with shoots and roots. Ripe barberry berries have a sweet and sour taste, due to the high content of various acids in them: malic, ascorbic, citric, tartaric, and they also contain vitamins K and C.

The fruits have antipyretic and antitussive properties, which makes them quite effective in the treatment of acute respiratory viral infections.

Berberine alkaloid is found in all parts of the plant, but it is especially abundant in unripe fruits. It is widely used in medicine to treat diseases of the gallbladder and liver, and it also helps the body fight cancer cells.

Tincture of the leaves is used to treat uterine bleeding, and rinsing with a decoction of the roots will stop gum inflammation. Several fresh fruits of barberry, eaten in the morning on an empty stomach, will energize the body, because they contain the unique substance serotonin, otherwise - the hormone of joy.

In cooking

Berries of barberry are harvested as they ripen, because unlike viburnum or mountain ash, they are not able to accumulate more sugars after the first frost. They are consumed fresh, frozen or dried.

Fresh berries of barberry are stored in the refrigerator for about a month, being put in a vacuum container.

A good harvest of barberry is an occasion to prepare compotes, preserves, marshmallows for the winter. Freshly squeezed juice and sugar can be used to make homemade barberry candies. Frozen berries are used as necessary for the preparation of fruit drinks, especially useful during the cold season.

Dried barberry is one of the indispensable components of Caucasian, Mediterranean and Asian cuisines. It is added to pilaf, served with meat, introduced into the composition of multicomponent seasonings. In addition, a delicious refreshing kvass can be made from dried barberry, which can lower blood pressure, therefore it is not recommended for hypotensive patients. Berries are dried at a temperature not exceeding 60 ° C.

Undoubtedly, the common barberry plant deserves closer attention to its person due to the fact that it is not only handsome, but also has an indecently long list of other advantages, both in the field of traditional medicine and in cooking.

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