How to Transplant a Barberry

Barberries incorporate many different varieties, which grow either as evergreens or deciduous bushes. The Japanese barberry (deciduous) and wintergreen barberry (evergreen), for example, are two popular varieties. Fortunately, barberry bushes in general tolerate transplanting very well. Transplant barberries in the late winter or early spring or just after flowering in the spring.

Things You'll Need

• Spade
• Shovel
• Water
• Organic matter
• Garden gloves
• Twine

Instructions

1. Prune the roots of a barberry bush in the fall. How wide and deep depends on your specific barberry bush. For example, if you have a deciduous barberry that is 2 feet tall, dig a 8-inch-wide trench that is 9 inches deep and 12 inches in diameter. Dig right through the feeder roots, fill it back up in a mix that's 1 part compost and 2 parts topsoil. Then water it. This will help prepare your bush for transplanting.

2. Prepare the new planting site before transplanting. Barberry bushes grow best in full sun or partial shade and are tolerant of most soil conditions. Dig a hole that is about twice as deep and twice the diameter as the depth and diameter that you root pruned several months earlier. Mix in about 4 to 6 inches of organic matter, like compost or peat moss, to add nutrients to the soil and improve drainage.

3. Wear thick garden gloves and tie the bottom branches up around the bush to help keep them out of your way. Use heavy twine.

4. Remove the barberry bush from the ground. Dig down along the outside perimeter of the trench that you dug a few months ago. Go to the same depth as before. This time though, cut under the bush at a 45 degree angle to get under the root ball. Push down on the shovel handle and pull up on the bush to get it out of the soil. Be careful not to break your shovel.

5. Move the bush to its new location. You may need a truck or wheelbarrow to help you transport the plant.

6. Fill in the hole with the amended soil from Step 2 so that it is just as deep as the root ball. Then set the plant in the center of the hole, soil and all. Be sure it is sitting straight.

7. Backfill the rest of the hole around the plant, tamping it down slightly to fill in pockets of air without compacting the soil too tightly. Then untie your barberry bush and water it with 2 or 3 inches of water.

References

• Clemson University: Barberry
• Clemson University: Transplanting Established Trees & Shrubs
• Penn State: Transplanting or Moving Trees and Shrubs in the Landscape