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Passion for planting ornamental shrubs by amateur gardeners was especially reflected in Thunberg’s barberries. The variety of varieties allows you to intertwine different sizes and colors to embody all kinds of fantasies in landscape design. Barberry Maria deserves special attention with its combination of bright yellow and red flowers.
Description of barberry Thunberg Maria
The ornamental prickly shrub Thunberg Maria barberry was bred by Polish breeders with qualities that allow the plant to live quietly throughout almost the entire territory of Our Country. It is considered one of the most unpretentious and frost-resistant of the Barberry family. The description of the barberry Maria allows you to distinguish it in the photo among other varieties of Thunberg:
- the maximum height in adulthood is 1-1,5 m;
- the columnar crown is formed by erect stems and dense foliage, reaching a width of 0,5 to 1 m;
- leaves are rounded, slightly oblong, large. They change color during the growing season and from spring to autumn. They change from pinkish-yellow to bright yellow with a dark red border, and in October turn the bush into an orange-red column;
- flowers are small, like balls, yellow and frequent, bloom in May, surrounding the entire bush with a delicate halo, have a pungent smell;
- the fruits are oblong, bright red, ripen in October and hang on the branches for a long time;
- the root system is small, with one main root and numerous branching lateral processes;
- annual growth of about 10 cm.
Barberry Maria has a lot of advantages for which he received a prestigious award at the competition. The shrub is picky about the composition of the soil, drought-resistant, winter-hardy, and tolerates urban conditions perfectly. In the spring you can admire its numerous flowers, in the summer it is impossible to take your eyes off the golden yellow leaves with a red border. In autumn, bright red berries are added to the outfit.
The stable dense crown of the Maria barberry allows you to cut it, giving it any shape you like. And the bright coloring of the leaves can be compared in its attractiveness with flowers. With age, the crown becomes spreading, fan-shaped.
Barberry Maria in landscape design
The main purpose of most varieties of Thunberg is decorative. The variety of foliage colors and shapes of these shrubs allows you to create a picturesque picture in the garden from barberries alone. The Thunberg barberry variety Maria in landscape design will enliven any area with its golden color. It can be planted singly or in a dense tree-shrub composition, creating a mixborder.
The alternation of ribbons from different varieties of barberry of various lengths allows you to literally draw unique living patterns. Barberry Thunberg Maria in the photo looks great when planting an edge, an alpine hill, creates an accent in combination with coniferous and herbaceous plants. Vertically growing stems and a dense crown seem to be specially created for the formation of a hedge.
Planting and caring for barberry Thunberg Maria
Adapted to climatic conditions, the Maria barberry variety does not require special conditions for planting and caring for it. The planting procedure is carried out in the same way as with other barberries. You just need to know that this variety does not like a lot of water, and it needs top dressing, pruning, loosening and mulching for lush and beautiful growth.
Seedling and planting preparation
Before planting barberry Maria in a permanent place, pay attention to the condition of the roots. If they are dry, the seedling is lowered into the water for several hours. If a bush is planted from a container with a fertile mixture, it is first taken out together with the ground so that it does not crumble, and moistened with water.
All members of the Barberry family love sunny places. The Thunberg variety Maria is no exception, although it was bred for more severe climatic conditions. The most favorable for him will be a site that is almost all day lit by the sun and without strong drafts.
Barberry Maria grows better on light, well-drained soils without stagnant groundwater. When waterlogged, the roots of the shrub can rot. Dig up the area before planting to remove weeds and loosen the soil. If it is very acidic, add lime (300 g per bucket of water) or wood ash.
Planting barberry Thunberg Maria
If the barberry Thunberg Maria is planted to form a hedge, then there should be 1 seedlings per 4 m1. A single planting should allow the bush to fully open its crown, so only 1 bush is planted per 0,5 m. In group planting, the place for this variety should be from 0,7 to XNUMX m in size. Algorithm:
- For one bush, they dig a hole measuring 0,4×0,4×0,4 m. If a hedge is planted, you can immediately dig a trench for all seedlings.
- Drainage is poured at the bottom from what is at hand: coarse sand, broken brick, crushed stone, etc., to prevent water stagnation in the root system.
- A planting substrate is prepared from sand, soddy soil, humus in approximately different proportions. The pit is half filled with substrate.
- They put the seedling in the center of the pit, add the fertile mixture to the level of the entire plot and tamp it down.
After the earth sags, they fill it up to the required level and mulch the trunk circle with wood shavings, small decorative stone, and dry grass.
Watering and top dressing
The Thunberg barberry variety Maria does not like a lot of moisture, therefore it is watered as needed and no more than 1 time per week, along the trunk circle under the root, trying not to get on the foliage.
This culture is undemanding to fertilizers. After planting in a fertile mixture, it needs to be fed with mineral complexes for the 2nd year. If the soil on the site is fertile, then it is enough to apply fertilizer 1 time in 2-3 years.
Trimming
If the shrub is grown singly and no formative cutting of the bush is expected, then only sanitary pruning is carried out in the spring. Remove frozen branches, and at the same time dry and diseased stems.
When forming a hedge from barberry Maria or to give a bush with its yellow foliage a certain shape, pruning should be done 2 times a year:
- At the beginning of June;
- in August.
Preparation for winter
Barberry Maria belongs to winter-hardy shrubs and is almost completely preserved in severe frosts down to -300C. This variety does not require special shelter. Gardeners of the Northern regions advise young bushes to shelter for the first 2 years for the winter:
- lapnikom;
- fallen leaves;
- wrap with burlap.
Reproduction
For the first planting, it is better to buy seedlings in containers with a fertile substrate in a specialized store and plant it in the spring when the earth warms up. And then you can already propagate the Thunberg Maria barberry with seeds, green cuttings or dividing the bush.
Seeds are planted both in autumn before the first frosts, and in spring. Autumn sowing is done according to the scheme:
- Seeds are collected, squeezed, washed, dried.
- Prepare a bed – loosen, watered.
- Deepen the seeds with your finger 2-3 cm into the soil.
- Cover with foil until snow.
For spring sowing, the seeds are also prepared in the fall until dry. But before planting in the spring, they must be stratified for 3 months.
Reproduction of barberry Maria by green cuttings is the most common method. To do this, cut off the young shoots of the current year from a plant of 3-5 years of age, starting in June. Segments should have 2-3 internodes. Planted in a greenhouse or immediately on the site, observing the temperature and humidity conditions.
To divide the bush, a young plant is also chosen – it tolerates this method of reproduction more easily. They dig up the barberry, divide the roots with a pruner into 3 parts, and plant them in a new place.
Diseases and pests
Barberry Thunberg Maria is considered resistant to various fungal diseases and pests. But in order not to have to get rid of the plant, it is recommended to carry out preventive spraying of bushes with fungicides in the spring. This helps to avoid such diseases:
- powdery mildew;
- rust;
- infectious dryness.
Barberry aphid can imperceptibly destroy the plant. It is necessary to notice the appearance of this insect in time and spray the bush with insecticides. In general, barberry Maria does not cause unnecessary trouble due to fungal diseases and is rarely attacked by insects.
Conclusion
Barberry Maria is another striking element in landscape design that no designer or just an amateur gardener will miss to decorate their site with. This variety is bred with particular resistance to cold winters and cool summers. A little care and attention to this plant will return the pleasure of the beauty that it can give.
