Choosing a time wisely - tips for the ideal date
The desired result of pruning a barberry hedge largely determines the choice of date. The following overview gives you the best times to care for the cut:
- Topiary for a well-groomed appearance: after the flowering period
- Plant pruning for strong branching: immediately after planting in spring or autumn
- Rejuvenation pruning of an aging hedge: in January / February on a frost-free day
also read
- Radically cutting barberries - this is how the rejuvenating cut succeeds
- Properly transplant barberry - instructions with practical tips
- Lots of caterpillars on barberry? - Tips for natural control
The recommended dates apply to evergreen and deciduous Berberis species alike.
Preparation - tips for a smooth process
The following recommendations aim to protect gardeners and hedge plants at the same time. The long, strong thorns pose a significant risk of injury. The use of unclean cutting tools offers numerous plant diseases an ideal attack surface.
- Put on thorn-proof gloves with cuffs and protective goggles
- Clean the cutting tool with hot water and disinfect with alcohol
- Sharpen blades
It is extremely annoying to sweep and dispose of clippings under a thorn-reinforced barberry hedge. You can make this work noticeably easier by spreading out foil, old blankets or curtains in advance to catch fallen shoots.
Instructions for cutting - how to cut sourthorn correctly
Barberries make life easy for the gardener because they are extremely easy to cut. Beginners in hedge trimming will appreciate the fact that Berberis branches will sprout again from old wood. The following instructions explain the correct pruning for a barberry hedge in a practical way:
- First step: thoroughly examine the hedge for nesting birds in order to postpone the appointment if necessary
- Thinning out all dead shoots
- Cut inward and balding branches at the base
- Shorten all branches evenly by up to a third
- Ideally, cut each shoot individually just below a leaf knot
The perfect cut aims at a trapezoidal shape. If your barberry hedge gets wider from top to bottom, you've done everything right. This shape guarantees that the sunlight penetrates into all regions of the hedge bushes so that fresh leaves sprout there.
Radical cut turns back time - tips for the rejuvenation cut
Have you inherited an old, aged barberry hedge or missed the topiary for a few years? Then breathe new life into the bushes with a radical pruning. The Federal Nature Conservation Act prescribes winter as the only permitted time for good reason. Cut back all branches by up to two-thirds. As long as at least one or two sleeping eyes remain on the shoot, the way is free for renewed growth.
Tips
The clippings of a barberry hedge are far too good to be carelessly disposed of. Annual, non-flowering head shoots 10 to 15 centimeters in length are the perfect cuttings. Defoliate the lower half of the shoot and put the cuttings in a pot with lean, slightly moist substrate.
