JAPANESE BARBERRY AKA Berberis thunbergii

 Welcome to the Scotland Invasive Plants Working Group website!  Earlier posts explain the different types of herbicides and other general information on invasive plants.  There are also links that provide native plant substitutions.  Visit the links on the sidebar to the right for even more information.

The wanted poster you clicked on brought you here because you expressed an interest in eliminating invasive Barberry from your land. First a bit of its history, as it is always best to know your enemy!

This plant, like many invasives, has virtually naturalized itself throughout our uncultivated landscape.  At this point it is difficult to believe it is not a native species.  Japanese Barberry was brought here in 1875 as a landscape plant.  The ornamental version, obviously from Japan, was desirable for its dark red leaves and colorful berries, it made a pretty hedgerow, and with its thorny branches a hedgerow that was virtually impenetrable, an attractive fence so to speak. By the early 1900's it had already begun to escape cultivation.  How did that happen?  It's pretty bright red seeds made enticing food for birds, and small animals. The seeds were carried with them in their digestive tract and eventually deposited in their droppings in forests and fields, and there the seeds germinated.  The new plants that grew from these seeds often lost their desirable colorful foliage, but they kept their thorns and many of their other characteristics, such as early foliage lasting later into the growing season, and of course the abundant colorful red berries so appealing to the birds.  Barberry's spread throughout the landscape continued, in areas not maintained regularly such as open fields, forests, and roadsides. The plant has no natural enemies.  Its thorny branches make it an unpalatable food source to grazers such as deer.  The plant grows with a branchy spreading type canopy that shades out native plants.  As its taller branches fall to the ground some eventually take root.  This is called creeping or prostrate growth and also called vegetative propagation.  When this type of propagation occurs, invasive Barberry begins to make an impenetrable wall.  The plant at any stage, but especially this one, creates a safe haven for mice and other rodents.  While that may be a good thing for the rodents.  It is not a good thing for us. Rodents are carriers of ticks, so an increase in their numbers also dramatically increases the number of disease carrying ticks in the landscape. An increased tick population escalates the number of tick-borne illnesses.  Barberry's branching habit combined with its early growth and late dieback prevents many native plants and trees from establishing themselves.  If left unchecked barberry will create an inadvertent monoculture, an area where Barberry is the only plant growing, excluding the growth of any other plants.  Thick infestations of barberry can make it difficult for a person to navigate through the forest.  One of the rewards for this plants removal is knowing that you are reducing the tick population.  You will also be helping to create a landscape that contains more native plant and animal species, and one that encourages recreational activities such as hiking.  

HOW TO REMOVE

If you are fortunate to have only several of these invasive shrubs growing on your property, the good news is that there are a couple of relatively easy solutions their removal.  If you take a steel garden rake and push the branches forward, you may be able to get a shovel under the shrub and dig it out.  Try to remove all of the roots to prevent regrowth.  very small plants can simply be hand pulled.  Another removal method that can be performed any time after early spring growth has occurred is to cut the branches as close to the main stump as possible with loping shears. An application of concentrated herbicide must be applied to the stump soon after cutting to help prevent regrowth.  If you do this too early in the spring, the plant will be sending nutrients from the roots to the leaves.  Wait until the plant is fully leafed out.  Itis at that point that flow of nutrients reverses and the herbicide will be carried to the roots.  If you have a larger infestation of Barberry, a foliar herbicide applied during the plants growing season may be the best solution.  If you are not comfortable handling herbicides, or if you have a very large infestation, it may be time to call in the professionals.  They have the capability of using a forestry mower, applying herbicide over a large area, or perhaps even performing a prescribed burn. 

Beware!  Japanese Barberry cultivars are still being sold in Connecticut.  Before considering them as an ornamental, consider planting a native shrub that does not encourage the presence of ticks!

 SOME OF THE NECESSARY TOOLS FOR THE JOB

I am hopeful, to say the least, that by now you are considering the removal of some invasive plants on your property.  Here are a few of the tools recommended for that job.  I really like Fiskars extendable power lever loping shears.  They are presently available at Ocean State Job lot at a very reasonable price too.  They are light in weight and believe me, they take a lot of abuse!  Actually, another tool manufactured by Fiskars, and also available at Job Lot is a nifty narrow trowel with a serrated edge like a knife.  It is good for digging and the durable and sharp serrated edge is also perfect for cutting roots and even semi-woody stems. A large spade form shovel is also a tool you will find useful, as it will give you more leverage for removal of larger plants and shrubs

One of the methods that I like for control of invasive shrubs is the cut stump treatment.  As much as I would like to use this method now when all the shrubs are beginning to green up, it is a method best performed in late summer and fall when the plant is transitioning its nutritive supply from the leaves back to the roots.  After cutting the stump close to the ground you apply herbicide directly to the cut edge.  You will need a good pair of chemical proof gloves, and I would recommend a mask and goggles as well. For the actual application of the herbicide, you will need at least a spray bottle for small areas or a backpack sprayer to carry ample amount of herbicide to spray on the cut stumps in larger areas of infestation.

 THINGS ARE FINALLY BEGNNING TO GREEN UP, BUT...

It looks like spring has finally arrived!  As always, I have been watching the roadsides in eager anticipation.  Here's the thing though, I used to think it was a good sign when I saw early hints of green in the scrubby growth along the wood line, but as I have been learning more and more about invasive plants, I have come to realize that most of the early greening that I see is the result of invasive plants coming to life.  Their early growth is but one of their methods of gaining a foothold over native plants which are often a bit slower to awake from their winter slumber.  While you are on the road, take a glimpse into the forest.  In the understory you will see a froth of green foliage.  Much of what you see is the emergence of leaves on the Japanese barberry shrubs.  It is especially at this time of year, when they are first leafing out that you can see how they are filling in spaces between all of the trees.  You can imagine how dense, and impenetrable these shrubs will eventually become if they are allowed to continue their unbridled growth.  The multiflora rose is another equally virulent offender.  Soon I will be posting articles describing some of the most effective methods for the control of these and other plants on the invasive species list.  Stay tuned.

 STATE OF CONNECTICUT TO CONDUCT MORE CONTROLLED BURNS  

Copy and paste the link below for more info from CT DEEP

https://portal.ct.gov/deep/news-releases/news-releases---2025/deep-to-conduct-prescribed-burns-at-six-locations-this-spring

 If anyone has actually been reading this blog you may be thinking "There she goes again.  She seems somewhat obsessed with the concept of controlled burns".  Maybe I should attempt an explanation.  Shortly after we moved here, I found my first Indigenous tool while walking in one of the ploughed fields in town after a heavy rain. I felt a kind of awe at its discovery.  I never lived anywhere before where the evidence of past human occupation prior to the colonial era could be found on the surface right under my feet.  To be able to just pick it up and handle it was an extraordinary feeling.  Most often primary source material is a handwritten document. In this case the primary source material was made of stone.  Thousands of years ago a person's conceptual design and physical energy went into creating that stone tool, and thousands of years later I was holding it in my hand exactly as the day it was made. It gave me a feeling of connection to the past that I can't quite describe without sounding cheesy. I have been very interested in the life and culture of the Indigenous population that lived on these lands ever since.  Holding that tool encouraged me to take a fresh look at history. In school we were of course made aware that there were Native Americans here predating European settlement, and we learned something about how the two populations interacted, but actual Indigenous culture was a topic barely glossed over in many classrooms, at least during my years. European culture versus Indigenous culture was a clash of two very different life philosophies. In the instance of our country the primary culture ended up evolving in the European manner. Forests were clear cut and farms laid out in perfect squares.  Vast numbers of animals were killed solely for their fur.  Permanant structures were erected and then came the industrial age with its dams and mills. We can all see where it has led us today.  Nothing is perfect in any culture. I am not idolizing or elevating the Indigenous culture to any godlike status, surely it was not perfect, but it does seem obvious that Indigenous people had a way of connecting with their environment and for the most part adapting to it rather than making drastic alterations to the environment forcing the environment to adjust or adapt to their human presence. Yes, they made beneficial changes to their environment which allowed them an upper hand in hunting and growing crops, but close observation of their environment was one of their strengths.  Observing natural phenomena such as what the impact to the land was after a lightning strike and subsequent brush fire and watching closely which plants perished and which useful plants grew more with more vigor, carefully watching the ways fire improved the land that provided their sustenance.  They were then able to simulate that phenomenon using fire, a natural method borrowed from nature, to duplicate the results. It has been well documented by early European settlers upon their arrival that many old growth forests were clear of underbrush providing an almost park like setting, and that there were open grassy fields as well as agricultural fields planted with crops such as beans and corn.  Even Thoreau, in the mid 1800's, 175 years ago, after the first industrial revolution, mourned the loss of the open old growth forests and the variety of wildlife they once harbored. I encourage you to visit the areas the State of Connecticut DEEP is attempting to restore using this ancient method.  It will be interesting to observe the changes to them as they appear.