Barberry Ottawa Superba - description and care
Content:
As a result of breeding work on crossing two types of shrubs - common barberry and Thunberg barberry, an ornamental variety has appeared, which has absorbed the best qualities of its "parents". This barberry is known to gardeners and landscape designers as the Superba barberry. In some catalogs, the plant is called Ottawa barberry.
Description of barberry Superba
Superba's dimensions are impressive. Its height can reach 4 m. This shrub reaches such an impressive size in 7-8 years. At first glance, it may seem that its branches are growing vertically. However, having reached a certain height, the branches begin to bow in an arc-like manner to the ground. Barberry Superba is a drooping bush. The stems are flexible, the bark is red-brown.
Barberry Ottawa Superba
Leaves are oval in shape, their sizes rarely exceed 5-6 cm. In spring, barberry produces fragrant flower clusters containing about 10-12 flowers. Fruits, subject to full ripening, are conditionally edible. Eating unripe berries can lead to food poisoning. Closer to autumn, the shrub turns bright orange, red or purple.
Planting a plant
Collecting seeds for planting is carried out exclusively from ripe fruits. After the seeds are separated from the berries, they must be treated with a weak manganese solution and dried. The seeds are poured into a container with wet sand, mixed well and placed in the cold until spring. This procedure is called stratification.
Planting from seeds
Planting seeds is allowed only in well-heated soil. The beginning or mid-May is the best time to plant barberry seeds for seedlings in individual containers. To achieve germination, you need to place the seed no deeper than 1 cm. In these containers, young seedlings should exist throughout the season until a sufficiently strong root system is formed. If the root system does not have time to form, then the seedlings remain in the seedling containers until next spring.
Planting seedlings in open ground
Since the Thunberg Superba barberry grows quite large, you need to think over its placement, taking into account the future dimensions. The shrub is picky about lighting. The place for the plant should be as illuminated as possible. This variety of barberry can exist in shaded areas, but then it will lose its festive color and will not bear fruit.
Planting barberry in the ground
Landing is carried out in steps of one and a half meters. If it is planned to form a hedge from this shrub, then the seedlings are planted in a checkerboard pattern. In this case, there should be a distance of 70 cm between the seedlings.
Planting seedlings in open ground is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- Weeds and the remnants of their roots are removed from the planting site.
- A pit is dug with dimensions of 40x40.
- Drainage, crushed stone, sand are placed at the bottom of the pit.
- On top of the sand layer, a layer of earth is placed with lime and nitrogen fertilizers mixed into it.
- A seedling is placed in the pit and sprinkled with the remaining earth. The seedling is watered abundantly.
- The ground around the bush is mulched with conifer bark or compost.
How to care for barberry Superba
Ottawa barberry Thunberg is not a particularly demanding plant. It can withstand extreme temperature changes, prolonged dry periods, exhaust fumes. In order for the plant to have a healthy look, some care rules still have to be followed.
Watering
If the weather is hot without precipitation, then the Ottawa Thunberg barberry needs weekly watering. One bush should consume at least 10-15 liters of water. Shortly before the onset of autumn frosts, watering should be increased to 20-25 liters.
Top dressing
The first feeding is required only a year after planting. For this, urea is used (8 liters per 1 m²). 4 years after planting, the bush is fed with nitrogenous fertilizers. Potash fertilizers are applied at the end of the season. Fertilizer is applied twice a season - before the start of the growing season and at the end of it.
Pruning
The plant easily tolerates pruning. It can be formative and sanitary. As a rule, this shrub is pruned shortly before the onset of frost. At the same time, dried branches and branches growing in the wrong direction are removed.
Pruning barberry Superba
Reproduction methods
There are several ways to breed barberry. The easiest way is to organize reproduction by layering. To do this, it is necessary to dig in a young (1-2 year old) shoot in early spring, securing it to the soil with a garden clip.
You can propagate barberry by dividing the bush. To do this, remove the plant from the ground and carefully divide it into 2 parts with a sharp garden knife and place it in a nutritious soil mixture. It should be noted that the bush should not be younger than 3 years old.
Cutting is another way to propagate Berberis. Planting material is obtained from a young, healthy stem. To do this, cut off the stem with a sharp pruner and cut the cuttings from it. Leaves above and below are removed. After that, the cuttings are placed in water for several hours, treated with root, and then deepened into the nutrient medium.
Description of barberry Auricoma (Auricoma)
A sprawling, showy shrub with strong, fast-growing, studded stems. The bark is bright brown, dense. Leaves can be red, purple or purple, large, rounded. Like all barberries, Auricoma blooms in mid-May. Red or orange flowers are collected in a brush. Their full maturation occurs by the end of September.
Diseases and pests
Aphids and moths are the only insects that can cause significant damage to the Berberis ottawensis shrub. In the fight against these harmful insects, insecticides such as "Alatar", "Iskra", "Furanon" will be most effective.
In rare cases, the root system of a shrub can be attacked by root rot, which is caused by fungi or bacteria. Since barberry usually shows resistance to garden diseases, plant care should be analyzed and errors should be corrected.
Flowering period
Superba begins to bloom in the second half of May. Usually its duration is 10-14 days. Small yellow or yellow-orange flowers are collected in clusters. They give off a very pleasant sweet smell.
Preparing for winter
Despite the fact that the barberry is able to withstand even very severe frosts, gardeners still insure the plant against freezing by carefully tying the branches and wrapping the bush with rags. If the Superba barberry is grown as a hedge, then before the onset of cold weather the plant is cut, and the root soil is covered with a thick layer of mulch.
Use in landscape design
Superba is loved by gardeners and is widely used in landscape design. The purpose of this spectacular shrub is to drape unsightly corners of the garden, serve as a background for garden compositions, and zone areas. Barberry hedges can be given any shape and height.The main thing is to cut it in time, keeping the geometry.
The use of barberry in landscape design
Healing properties
Theoretically, barberry is not considered edible due to the berberine alkaloid contained in its fruits. Nevertheless, its fruits are actively used in pharmacology for the manufacture of choleretic, anti-inflammatory, antitussive drugs.
Ottawa barberry Superba is a beautiful shrub that does not require special growing skills. Often landscape designers cultivate this unusual plant, using it everywhere in their projects.
