Barberry Thunberg Rose Glow (Berberis thunbergii Rose Glow)

Barberry Rose Glow is a bright accent in the flower garden, perfectly combined with many plants. Among the numerous varieties of Thunberg barberry, this one is distinguished by its special decorative effect. The amazing pink color of the foliage from a distance gives the impression of violent flowering.

Description of barbaris Rose Glow

There are more than 500 wild species of barberry in nature alone, and there are many cultivars created by breeders on their basis. Among them, most of all are Thunberg barberries, this large group also includes Rose Glow. In growth, he overtakes many of its representatives. Good care will allow him to reach a height of 10 m in 1,5 years. The spherical crown is even wider – up to 2 m. Annually, the branches grow by 15 cm.

The adult ovoid leaves of this variety of barberry are purple in color, slightly diluted with dark pink spots. But the main beauty is given to Rose Glow by young growths, they, like the leaves, are painted in a rich pink color. This alone would be enough to plant a plant in the garden. But nature was generous and painted them with spots and stripes of white-pink and bronze-red. In bright sunlight, they appear silvery.

A good shrub and in bloom. At the very end of May or in the first decade of June, each shoot is decorated with yellow flowers with reddish outer petals. They can hang from the axils of the leaves one by one or 2-3. When the foliage, which has turned orange by autumn, falls off, the bush will be hung with bright corals of oblong rather large, up to 1 cm, berries for a long time to come. Like most ornamental barberries, they are inedible, although not poisonous. At this time, long spines are also clearly visible, sitting one at a time in the nodes of lignified gray shoots.

The description of the barberry Thunberg Rose Glow would be incomplete without mentioning its other characteristics:

• frost resistance;
• unpretentiousness;
• undemanding to growing conditions;
• drought tolerance;
• resistance to diseases and pests;
• the ability to tolerate shearing and the poor environmental conditions of the big city.

You can list the advantages of the Rose Glow barberry for a long time, but the photo will say more about it:

Barberry Rose Glow in landscape design

Rose Glow barberry will make an excellent tapeworm, a very beautiful shrub in the company of its fellow barberries, but with less bright foliage, they will be an excellent background for it. Of the perennial shrubs, spirea is the most suitable as a companion – birch-leaved or Grefsheim: a waterfall of white flowers on a pink background looks very elegant.

You can plant a paniculate hydrangea nearby, for example, Vanilla Fraise or Limelight. Initially white, then turning pink, the inflorescences will create an excellent color ensemble with richly colored Rose Glow foliage. It looks great next to conifers: junipers, thujas, Konik spruce or low firs. Rose Glow cuts well, suitable for a natural hedge or a neat border.

Rose Glow barberry bushes will look good on the edge of plantings of tall trees, but you can not combine it with poplars, acacias or elderberries. Due to the phytoncides secreted by these plants, it will be oppressed and may die completely. Do not plant next to him and letniki. The surface root system of the barberry is easily damaged when digging.

Planting and caring for Thunberg Rose Glow barberry

It is not difficult to carry them out due to the unpretentiousness of the shrub, but there are still some features. Rose Glow has certain preferences when choosing a landing site and care nuances. If you follow them, the decorativeness of the plant will always be on top.

Seedling and planting preparation

Like all variegated barberries, Rose Glow can only demonstrate the peak of its decorative effect with sufficient lighting. It will grow well in partial shade, but the color of the leaves will turn pale. There are other requirements for Rose Glow habitat and soil preparation:

• it grows best on loam or sandy loam, on which nothing has been planted before;
• soil fertility should be at an average level, it is not necessary to actively fertilize the bush;
• soil reaction may slightly, but not too much, differ from neutral in one direction or another;
• drainage is a prerequisite for the successful growth of Rose Glow;
• despite the drought tolerance of the barberry, when planting, the site should be sufficiently moistened.

In addition to good lighting, Rose Glow also needs protection from strong winds. Where it will grow, moisture should not stagnate in spring or during prolonged rains. Groundwater should be low.

If a barberry seedling with a closed root system is purchased, it does not need special preparation. You may have to soak the pot in water for 20 minutes if the soil is too dry.

Barberry Rose Glow plants with open roots will require more thorough preparation:

• carry out an audit of the root system, cutting out all dried and damaged roots;
• soak them in water to which any root formation stimulator is added (dilute according to the instructions) for 3 hours.

Rules of landing

First you need to decide for what purposes this variety of barberry is planted:

• as a tapeworm, it will need a lot of space so that when Rose Glow grows it does not become crowded, close-growing tall plants can block the view;
• when landing in a group of several bushes, at least 1,5 m must be left between them;
• when constructing a hedge for its density, the distance between plants is 50 cm.

Both autumn and spring planting of Rose Glow barberry is possible. An indispensable condition is that the plant is in the dormant phase. Why do experienced gardeners insist on this so much? Weak barberry roots will not be able to properly nourish an already awakened plant. At best, it will hurt for a long time, at worst, it will die.

The only exception is container seedlings. Their intact root system immediately starts to grow. Such a barberry takes root well throughout the growing season.

Landing algorithm:

• At Rose Glow, the roots grow in width, not in depth, so he does not need a large pit for planting: for 2-3 year old seedlings – 25 cm deep, for older ones – up to 50 cm, the main guideline is the size of the root system, it the pit should be spacious.
• If you plan to build a hedge from the Rose Glow barberry, it is easier to dig a ditch, its size is 40 cm wide, the same depth, and the length is determined by the need, taking into account that the seedlings will be located in it every 50 cm.
• Drainage is required when planting barberry plants of any age.
• Prepare a planting mixture to fill the pit, mixing equal amounts of garden soil, humus and sand.
• A glass of ash and 100 g of phosphate fertilizers are added to each hole.
• Pour in a bucket of water.
• Straighten the roots of the barberry, without shaking off the ground from them.
• Fall asleep with planting mixture, compacting it, and water again.

In all others, the root neck should be level with the soil or a couple of cm higher.

The final touch is mulching with humus or peat. They should not be neglected – the moisture in the soil will be better preserved, Rose Glow will soon start growing.

Watering and top dressing

Regular, once a week, moisturizing is required only for recently planted plants. Already rooted barberries need watering only in case of severe drought or at high air temperatures. Cold water will not work, it must be heated in the sun.

Barberry is fed from the second year of life:

• for the speedy growth of young shoots in the spring they give fertilizers rich in nitrogen – dissolve st. a spoonful of urea in a bucket of water and poured under an adult bush; for babies, this amount is divided in half or into 3 parts, depending on age;
• on the eve of flowering, a mineral fertilizer will be required containing the entire set of nutrients, including trace elements in the amount of st. a spoon on a bush, they are scattered, mixed with the soil by shallow loosening and watering is carried out;
• at the beginning of autumn, 15 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium sulfate in dry form are added under each adult Rose Glow barberry bush and closed up by loosening.

Organic barberry is fed every 3 years. Slurry is suitable – 1,5 liters per bucket of water or 1 liter of bird droppings for the same amount of water. Watering with clean water after this is required.

Trimming

This is a rather traumatic operation, given the thorns.

The types of pruning depend on the role Rose Glow plays in the garden:

• in a tapeworm, it is enough to form a spherical crown, cutting off extra branches once a season in spring;
• shearing a barberry border is carried out more often – in early June and the first decade of August, using a special long ruler or a wooden plank to obtain the same level of the crown of plants;
  
  Important! The following year, after planting the Rose Glow barberry as a hedge, the shoots are cut at least half for better branching.
• natural hedges require only sanitary pruning to remove dry, frosted, broken, or improperly growing branches.

If the bush is very bare at the bottom, rejuvenating pruning on the stump will be required. Barberry will quickly recover and will again be decorative.

Preparation for winter

Barberry Thunberg comes from warm regions – Japan and China. Its varieties, including Rose Glow, have higher frost resistance. But young plants still need shelter in the first few seasons. You don’t need to be very zealous with it – just wrap a barberry bush in one layer of non-woven material 60 microns thick. Excessive shelter of the barberry will create another problem – the aging of the shoots. It will not be superfluous to insulate its root system by pouring a bucket of humus under the bush.

Reproduction

It is pointless to propagate varietal barberries, including Rose Glow, by seeds – seedlings will not repeat their parents. The only way out is vegetative propagation: dividing the bush and cuttings. The latter method is especially good if you need a large number of barberry plants to make a hedge.

Cherenkov rules

• the best survival rate is in green barberry cuttings cut in June;
• for cuttings, the growth of this year is chosen, the middle part of the shoot with 4 leaves and one internode, about 10 cm long and half a centimeter thick;
• cut obliquely at the bottom, horizontally at the top;
• having removed the lower leaves and cut off the top 2 by half, the barberry stalk is dipped with the lower part into the powder of the root formation stimulator;
• it is better to root the cuttings in a mini-greenhouse, the soil is light, from a mixture of sand and peat with the addition of vermicult;
• on top there should be a layer of sand, 4 cm thick, into which they land with a slope to the south and a depth of 1 cm;
• feeding area for each cutting – 5×7 cm;
• soil moisture is constant, and air humidity is 85%, which is achieved by frequent spraying.

The first, and sometimes the second wintering – at the place of rooting, young Rose Glow barberries are moved to the garden after 1-2 years.

By the time of division, the Rose Glow barberry bush should already be 3 years old. The best time for the procedure is spring, until the kidneys wake up. The excavated barberry plants are divided into parts with a sharp pruner, each of which should contain both roots and stems. The cut point is treated with charcoal powder and the delenki are planted.

Diseases and pests

Most often, Rose Glow is affected by diseases that are fungal in nature, they are especially rampant in the summer with heavy rains.

1. Mučnistaâ rosa – a clearly visible coating on the leaves of white barberry. It will help to remove the affected parts of the plant and dust with colloidal sulfur.

   
   

   Advice! If the weather is wet for a long time, it is better not to wait for the development of the disease, but to carry out preventive spraying of barberry bushes with a copper-containing fungicide.
2. Rust – orange spots on the leaves. The measures of struggle are the same.

   

3. Spotting – spots on the leaves, which soon dry out. Treatment of barberry with a solution of copper oxychloride will help.
4. Drying of the stems and necrosis of the bark. Both diseases have a similar nature – fungal, manifestation – drying of large trunks or twigs and control measures: cut off damaged parts, capturing up to 15 cm of healthy tissue and treat barberry plants with a solution of copper sulfate.
5. Bacteriosis – dark spots that can appear on any part of the plant. You will have to remove diseased tissues, and if the lesion is at the base of the trunk, then the entire bush.

Among the pests of Rose Glow, the most common are caterpillar larvae of the barberry sawfly and flower moth. To destroy them, use a 2% solution of Karbofos. A soapy solution effectively copes with barberry aphids. Bioinsecticides, for example, Fitoverm, are also suitable.

Conclusion

Barberry Rose Glow will decorate the garden plot, give it new, fresh colors, without requiring special care.