I'm in zone 4. Semishade spot, good soil. BUT my bearberry plants are scrawny. Dead in the middle, lots of long branches extending out. I'd like the plants to be more compact, alive in the middle, nicer looking. Shall I prune? Mulch? Give up? Martin
I'm in zone 4. Semishade spot, good soil. BUT my bearberry plants are scrawny. Dead in the middle, lots of long branches extending out. I'd like the plants to be more compact, alive in the middle, nicer looking. Shall I prune? Mulch? Give up? Martin
Although it should've been done earlier, you can try cutting them to within
12" of the ground, and pruning judiciously as they grow. Experimentation is relatively safe with barberry. They're tough to kill. With those thorns, they're likely to kill you first.Thaks for the reply. I made a mistake. I have bearberry (sometimes I think called bayberry) -- but I do NOT have barberry, /bearberry hugs the ground, but should mound up and be semicompact (which miine is not).
Never mind, then. Obviously, you're interested in doing this right. If you have lots of different shrubs and might want a great book for pruning, check this out:
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