Japanese Barberry 'Marulka'

Japanese Barberry 'Marulka' (Berberis thunbergii 'Marulka') is a compact, thorny bush with a dense, almost globe-shaped crown like a neat cushion. In autumn the small leaves blaze orange, yellow and red, and once they fall, glossy red berries hang on the bare shoots for a long time.

This is a plant that works in the garden all year round: a tidy green shape in summer, fire in autumn, red beads on the snow in winter. Barberry is planted in edgings, low hedges and thorny barrier strips along a fence. It is undemanding, takes drought, heat and city air, and colours most brightly in the open sun.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: Glossy red berries cling to the shoots right into winter and feed the birds when almost nothing is left in the garden.
• Dimensions: A rounded, dense shrub: height 1-1.5 m, spread 1-1.5 m - it grows to this size in 5-10 years.
• Hardiness: It overwinters without cover, confidently holding frosts down to -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
• Flowering: In April-May pale yellow flowers with reddish sepals open.
• Light: Plant it in sun or partial shade, though in sun the shrub fruits more generously and blazes brighter in autumn.
• Soil: It takes almost any soil - chalk, clay, loam or sand, acid, neutral or alkaline. Only a waterlogged spot will not do.
• Watering: Watering is moderate, from dry to medium: an established shrub copes well with drought.
• Care: It needs next to no care: RHS pruning group 2, with hedges trimmed right after flowering.
• Landscape use: Excellent in hedges and barrier plantings, in cottage, coastal and wildlife gardens, and in borders.
• Origin: The species comes from Japan and owes its name to the Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg.