Berberis Prickly Shrubs & Hedges

Cornish hedges are an exuberant delight. I visited in April a few years back, and every lane was awash with alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum). This year, in May, they put on a stunning display that would put a Chelsea show garden to shame.

A burgeoning batch of seedlings is a thing of beauty, but it’s also a responsibility – each tiny plant is dependent on us for everything it needs. It grows rapidly, needing more space, water, light and nutrients. Although we lavish care on them in their early stages, each plant needs to be prepared for the challenges of the outside world. Allowing your seedlings to grow up is the key to growing them on.

When a plants roots fill the pot then it is time to think about repotting. Compost breaks down overtime, becomes prone to waterlogging and is less aerated. Plants in John Innes No.3 compost will last a bit longer but repotting every couple of years may still be needed to retain vigour.

Red, White and Blue the patriotic colours of the Hydrangea are augmented by pinks and purples like H. Ayeshia above as a variation on those themes. Flowering from mid-summer these shrubs give a magnificent display with very little effort. Did you see Hydrangea maritima on seaside holidays in large displays of sugary pink and sometimes blue.

The best trees for chalk soil conditions tend to be locally grown and not be Dutch imports. In fact they resemble shrubs more than trees but there are the odd exception that are tree like.

Blue is not the colour you associate with foliage but if you can bend your eyes just a little around the silver – grey through to green spectrum there may be some surprises.

August is a good time to trim your hedges and create a neat appearance for autumn and winter.

The leaves of this Hydragea Aspera are one of its key features. As with other Aspera subspecies the branches and leaves are ‘strigose’ which botanically means ‘beset with appressed straight and stiff hairs’ that means rough and furry to me.

A prickly subject is our Berberis unless you pick with care.

It is worth inspecting closely the plants that have waited all year to bloom or display special features.

I am not suggesting you want to keep your neighbours out of your garden but there are some circumstances where a Prickly Shrub is just what the doctor ordered.

I have two very good Spirea varieties where I have long since lost the names. This example is a strong flowering mauve and white flowering plain leaved type. The other is a pale yellow leaved variety that has great colour in spring as the leaves start.