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Unusual coloration combined with contrasting clusters of flowers make the Ottawa barberry one of the favorite elements for landscape design among modern designers. A shrub that is unpretentious to the conditions of reproduction and existence can be grown by every amateur gardener who wishes to have it on his site.
Description of the Ottawa barberry
The purple-red crown of the Ottawa barberry shrub stands out against any other vegetation. The culture is a hybrid obtained from 2 barberries: Thunberg and ordinary. The external form is more reminiscent of the Thunberg variety, and the color of the leaves is inherited from the common barberry. Therefore, in the description and in the photo of the Ottawa barberry there are signs of both parents:
- growth from 2 m to 3 m, crown diameter – up to 2,5 m;
- the crown is formed by spreading arcuate branches;
- the main stems grow vertically, the lateral stems hang down in an arc;
- spines rare, up to 1,5 cm in length;
- leaves are purple-red, alternate, elongated, up to 4-5 cm, brighten by autumn, acquiring orange hues;
- the flowers are small, yellow with a red spot, collected in bunches of several pieces, bloom in May, have a strong, pleasant aroma;
- berries are large, numerous, bright red, hanging on the branches until December;
- the root system is branched, superficial, tolerates transplantation well;
- growth is 30-35 cm per year.
The unusual purple-red color of the leaves is not affected by the location of the shrub (sunny or shady side). However, it is better to plant the Ottawa barberry where there is a lot of sun. Bright yellow flowers against a background of red-violet leaves with a bluish bloom are an unusually beautiful decoration for any garden and personal plot.
Ottawa barberry is an excellent honey plant. Bees actively collect nectar from it. There is barberry honey. In addition, edible berries have found their application in cooking for the preparation of kissels, jams, compotes, seasonings. The healing properties of the Ottawa barberry are present in all its parts and are used not only in folk medicine, in the form of decoctions and lotions, but also in traditional medicine in the treatment of kidneys, liver, and gastrointestinal organs.
Ottawa barberry in landscape design
The culture adapts well to urban environments. The wide spreading crown and its rare coloration with bright contrasting colors are the qualities of the Ottawa barberry that designers widely use in landscape design. The shrub creates a color accent, drawing attention to itself. It excels in solitary plantings to decorate lawns, home gardens, in tree-shrub compositions, as well as in dense, live and free-growing hedges.
A hedge of the desired shape and constant size can be obtained only 6-8 years after planting the bushes for permanent residence.
Ottawa barberry varieties
Different varieties of Ottawa barberry have a variety of colors. The most popular varieties are Superba, Auricoma and Silver Miles.
Barberry Ottawa Superba
The height of an adult Ottawa Superba barberry can reach 3 m. The crown size is 2,5-3 m in diameter. The leaves are purple-red with a bluish tint, brighten by autumn, including shades of orange. This does not happen with all the leaves of the bush.
The fruits are elongated, ripen in October and hang beautifully from gracefully curved branches. Edible berries have a sour taste.
For decorative decoration, the Superba barberry can be planted singly or form part of a tree and shrub design.
Barberry Ottawa Auricoma
The height of the shrub of the Ottawa barberry Auricoma reaches 2-2,5 m. The leaves are rounded, up to 4-5 cm long, all summer long they have a purple-red color that does not change depending on the season. Brilliant rich red fruits ripen at the end of the 3rd trimester, edible, with a sour taste.
As an ornamental plant, the Ottawa barberry Auricoma is widely used in the design of private areas, parks, borders, and hedges.
In medicine, all parts of the shrub are used: leaves, fruits, bark, roots. Barberry Auricoma is known for its choleretic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, hemostatic effects. A decoction of the root is made for gargling and lotions.
Barberry Ottawa Silver Miles
An adult plant of the Ottawa barberry Silver Miles reaches a height of up to 8 m in 10-2 years. This species is distinguished by the color of the leaves. From a distance, they look dark purple, but up close, you can see spots and stripes of various sizes of pink-gray on them. It blooms with yellow-red flowers in May, giving a spectacular look to the entire bush.
It is possible to form both a dense fence and a free-growing hedge of Silver Miles barberry bushes.
Planting and caring for Ottawa barberry
When choosing a place for planting Ottawa barberry, preference should be given to the sunny side, although the shrub will also grow in partial shade. The more sun, the more magnificent the crown. This culture is not afraid of drafts and wind. However, if the area is subject to strong winds, it is better to choose a place sheltered from blowing.
The Ottawa barberry shrub does not require much care. After planting, it needs to be watered in time, loosen the ground in the trunk circle, apply the necessary fertilizers and carry out preventive spraying against diseases.
Seedling and planting preparation
The soil for planting Ottawa barberry can be of any acidity level (optimal is pH 6,0-7,5), but the plant grows best on neutral soil. If the acidity is high, then you need to add lime (300 g per bucket of water) or wood ash to the soil, after digging up the area where the shrub will grow.
The site must be drained, without close groundwater, as the Ottawa barberry shrub does not tolerate waterlogging.
If the seedlings are bought in a container, then before planting they must be taken out together with the ground and watered. After that, you can plant in a prepared hole.
Rules of landing
When creating a dense hedge of Ottawa thunberg barberry, it is recommended to plant 4-5 bushes per 1 m. For a free-growing fence, the bushes should be at a distance of 0,4-0,5 m from each other; -1,5 m.
Planting rules are simple and contain the same sequence of actions as when planting many shrubs:
- Dig a hole measuring 50x50x50 cm – for a single bush. If you create a hedge, then it is better to immediately make a trench for all seedlings.
- Put drainage at the bottom, which will be at hand – broken brick, coarse sand, crushed stone, small pebbles. The height of the drainage depends on the flow of groundwater – the deeper they are, the thinner the drainage (10-20 cm).
- Pour the prepared fertile mixture into the pit – soddy soil, sand, humus in equal proportions. More land can be added. Pour water.
- Put the prepared seedling vertically in the center of the pit, add the soil mixture to the ground level on the site, tamp, water.
Some time after planting the Ottawa barberry bushes, the ground may sag. It will be necessary to add soil so that the root collar is just below the surface of the earth and mulch the root circle with sawdust, tree bark, dry grass, and decorative small stones.
Watering and top dressing
Barberry is a drought-resistant plant, but can die from drying out of the soil. You need to water the bushes once a week, a bucket of water per bush. During drought – more often, as the earth dries up.
Since fertilizers are applied when planting a bush, they start feeding the Ottawa barberry with complex fertilizers from the age of 2, before flowering. And then fertilize 1 time in 3-4 years.
Trimming
Spring sanitary pruning will not interfere with the Ottawa barberry bushes. After the last snow melts, you need to cut off all frozen, dried and diseased branches. Free-growing shrubs do not require pruning. But when forming a dense hedge, you need to start trimming the branches for 2 years and do it 2 times a year: in early June and in August.
Preparation for winter
The Barberry family belongs to winter-hardy plants, but in severe frosts annual shoots can freeze slightly. They do not require special shelter and perfectly tolerate the winters of central Our Country.
However, experienced gardeners recommend covering young plants for the first 2-3 years with spruce branches or fallen leaves for the winter. You can put burlap on top and tie it with a rope so that the bush does not open with the wind.
Reproduction
For propagation of the Ottawa barberry, all vegetative methods are used, as well as seeds. Most often used propagation by cuttings and layering.
In the Northern regions of Our Country, sowing with seeds is best done in the spring. In warmer areas, seeds can be sown in the ground in spring and autumn. To do this, proceed as follows:
- Ripe fruits are harvested in autumn.
- Squeeze, rinse and dry.
- Planted in prepared soil, deepening by 1/3 of a finger.
- Cover with foil until snow.
For spring sowing, preliminary stratification is carried out for 3 months at a temperature of about +50C.
Reproduction by green cuttings is carried out in the summer. To do this, use the young branches of the current year in plants of 3-5 years of age.
Diseases and pests
Ottawa barberry attracts gardeners with its resistance to fungal diseases and various pests. The most common diseases among this variety of barberries are:
- powdery mildew;
- rust;
- withering;
- infectious desiccation.
These diseases are easier to prevent than to treat. If the disease is started, then it will be difficult to fight it, the plant will have to be dug up and burned. Therefore, in the spring, before flowering, the bushes are sprayed with appropriate fungicides for preventive purposes. Then repeat this several times throughout the growing season.
Pests such as moth, barberry aphid and sawfly should be dealt with immediately after they are discovered. Currently, there is a whole range of chemicals for the destruction of such insects.
Conclusion
The Ottawa barberry not only attracts attention with its appearance, but also makes the site more saturated and lively. It’s easy to grow it. Unpretentiousness and resistance to living conditions make it possible to make it part of the garden in almost any region. You don’t need any special knowledge for this either. This culture can give not only aesthetic pleasure, but also be useful for health.
