I just moved into this home and consider myself a semi-novice (but enthusiastic) gardener. I very much would like to convert my yard into a native garden, and Google tells me these 2 bushes are japanese barberry (which I learned from this sub is highly invasive). I guess I just feel a little sad because I truly hate to kill a seemingly healthy plant and worry about displacing bugs etc. But that'd be the right thing to do, right? Also, I have read that people suggest herbicides to be rid of them. I get lots of bunnies and squirrels on my lawn, so I'm hesitant to do that, but maybe I'm misinformed?
by anxious_cuttlefish
11 Comments
Killing a healthy invasive plant is better than killing all of the healthy native plants because of said invasive plant. The bugs on this plant could be displacing native bugs. No reason to keep these bushes.
Terminate with extreme prejudice before those seeds get spread around
These guys also help to spread ticks in a lot of areas: https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/GoodNatured/Pages/Article.aspx?post=116
If you can, dig them up to remove them. They don’t have thorns on their roots.
Edit: fwiw, I’m going to be removing dozens of these plants at a local woodland park this weekend. They spread into the park from people planting them in their landscapes. We aren’t finding many native plants in the understory since these fucking barberries have taken over everything.
Don’t feel bad. It’s better to remove an invasive now and replace with something native. I actually removed mine last week (I also recently learned Japanese barberry is invasive). I cut off the branches first and then dug it out. I didn’t use any herbicides.
I would. There are lots of native alternatives you could plant instead!
If you could post more about the location (sunlight exposure, what’s your soil/drainage situation like right there, what features are you looking for) people could help recommend some alternatives!
Japanese barberry is a prolific spreader: when my housing development was built in the 1990’s they planted it for a lot of the houses. It has now completely overrun the wooded parkland nearby. There’s evidence that areas with Japanese barberry have significantly higher populations of disease-carrying ticks (like 4-12x rates vs area w/o barberry) and higher populations of certain mice.
Thankfully it’s not the *most* difficult thing to kill. If the plants are smaller and there aren’t too many you can dig them out – the important thing is to get the root crown, otherwise it will resprout. Herbicide is effective, and if you don’t want to spray you can cut the bush and then apply directly with a paintbrush, spray bottle, etc. (usually called “cut stump treating,” or something similar). But it’s not effective in spring when the sap is flowing since the sap will push the herbicide out.
My (completely uneducated) opinion is that the ticks the bush harbors, and the lack of food it provides will probably be more damaging to the wildlife long term than careful one-time application of herbicide even if you go with foliar spray.
Barberry is awful. So many great alternatives to Japanese barberry out there!
Geographically and zone wise we are different, but I expect a lot of the following native alternatives would be suitable in your area. See if they are!
– Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
– chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia), I just got 5 of these to replace some boxwoods!!
– winterberry holly (unsure it’s native range)
– inkberry (it’s a bit shorter sometimes but is still a good alternative)
– Virginia sweet spire (I’m having a hard time finding some near me atm)
– fragrant sumac (I’ve got one and it’s pretty! Can be confused for poison ivy tho sometimes)
Make sure to not get cultivars or nativars, if you can.
Ripping these shrubs out isn’t terribly hard – just cut all the stuff above off and then work on the roots! You don’t have to even get the entire root system, just the main part. The roots will be digested by microbes and buggos in your soil.
We call that “Japanese barbwire” in my house bc of how stabby it feels when you find it by mistake. We’ve been eradicating it for two years, and we’re still finding sharp twigs and sprouts of it in the yard.
Kill it with extreme prejudice: it’s not a useful plant at all, and remains stabby for a long time after it dies.
I removed all my barberry after it bloomed – there were so many native bees and bumblebees on it, so I waited until they finish blooming. I dug them out, and then replaced them them with inkberry, new jersey tea, winterberry and virginia sweetspire. All thrive. I had to water them the first summer but had no issues with them since
I would remove them. Maybe wild hydrangeas or something like blackhaw viburnum would be good replacements. Blackhaw makes a good screen
I can see the allure because some of the colors on barberry are truly stunning. That said, this is the devils plant and I hate it. I just tore out the two big ones that came with my house because I kept getting stabbed by the thorns while weeding. If you don’t want to use a herbicide, make sure to get out as many of the roots as possible because they can and will sucker. If you’re looking for a replacement shrub, a lot of zoos and county park districts are having plant sales in the upcoming weeks and most use local ecotypes.