I have been potting Berberis Thunbergii – Barberry trees into Bonsai pots for the last week and a half. All seem to be doing well except one of them. I thought I would make a new page for them just to show what they look like when there first potted up. Several have deadwood on them and at least one has a dead branch that I am trying to train a young shoot to grow along the dead branch. It is being held in place with aluminum wire for the time being.
Spring is the best time to go looking for Barberries to buy for Bonsai. Hopefully go early enough when they have no leaves on them or just starting to bud out. You can really see the trunks then. Another tip for hunting Barberries when in leaf is to know the Barberry species your looking at know if they produce large trunks or not. Another hint is to look at the tallest Barberries in the patch of them being offered for sale. Unless there a column Barberry which is a waste of time looking at them. If you really want a yellow leaved Barberry then for sure check out the tallest ones first.
I generally have really good luck in potting Barberries into Bonsai pots and have yet to have one die.
Berberis thunbergii ‘Crimson Pygmy’ generally is the best ones to look at for large trunks on nursery trees. You can really find some very large trunked ones, but it does take some time to find them and you may have to look at all of them to. I pair of leather gloves helps to pull the branches out of the way so you can see the trunks. I have one that is between 5-7 feet tall and it is a monster. I am still trying to determine what to do with it!! I did cut off around 3 feet off the top of it to get it into the car.
Berberis thunbergii – Concorde – Almost impossible to find one a good sized trunk on them. Note: tree is completely wired and branches are currently out of place on the tree. They will be repositioned latter this season.
Berberis thunbergii – Golden Ruby – Very hard to find Barberry to start with and near impossible with a trunk on one of them.
Berberis thunbergii – Kobold – Very colorful green – golden colored leaves and very difficult to find ones with a large trunk.
So here they are, all of them from nursery stalk. Some are in glazed pots which is traditional and some are in non-glazed pots they look great in them!
