Trimming the Golden Barberry on My Terrace
We're making lots of progress with our long list of late spring chores here at my farm.
This time of year can be very hectic - my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are busy keeping up with all the rapid growth in the garden beds. Many days are spent mowing the fields, trimming and pruning the hedges and shrubs, tending the vegetable and flower gardens - and of course, weeding and watering. Last week, the crew tackled the terraces outside my Winter House - clipping and grooming the bright golden barberry.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Here I am earlier this month grooming one of the boxwood shrubs outside my stable with one of my favorite tools, my STIHL HSA 26 battery-powered garden shears. I always instruct my crew to “use the right tool for the right job,” and this handy garden tool is perfect for clipping and shaping the boxwood here at the farm.
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- It’s also perfect for trimming the bright golden barberry outside my Winter House. This is my upper terrace parterre, where I have four quadrants, each with a large boxwood shrub surrounded by a square hedge of boxwood and golden barberry. This is a look before the barberry is trimmed.
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- One can see the growth here. It definitely needs some shaping and grooming, but I am so pleased with how well it is doing.
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- Golden barberry, Berberis thunbergii, is a deciduous shrub that is compact, adaptable, very hardy and shows off striking small, golden yellow oblong leaves.
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- At least once a year, we groom and prune the boxwood and the golden barberry. Both are known for being robust when grown under lots of sun. Golden barberry also takes on its brightest coloring if it gets at least six hours of direct sun a day.
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- STIHL makes a lot of wonderful and dependable garden tools, but the hand-held HSA 26 garden shears is what I use most when I prune and groom. It comes in this easy-to-carry case, so all the accessories can be safely transported from one area to another.
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- Here it is unrolled – it contains the shears, the two blade attachments, the battery, and the charger.
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- The battery on the right is small, light, and fits into the handle of the tool.
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- The hedge shear attachment with double-sided cutting blades cuts in both directions. Phurba starting on the golden barberry, which has a moderate growth rate of about one foot annually.
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- Phurba likes to use this attachment for the tops of the barberry, which is trimmed so it is just a few inches taller than the boxwood.
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- Here, one can see how precise and clean the cuts are using the shears. Phurba goes over the top lightly again to make sure everything is straight and level. One can see the area he has trimmed and the area he still has to do.
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- The tool’s two blades are easy to switch. Phurba just removes the hedge shear from the bottom. Here is a view of the motor inside.
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- And then here is the grass shear cutting attachment. This blade is about four-and-a-half inches wide and has a cutting width of about 12-centimeters.
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- Phurba likes to use this blade for the sides of the barberry which are also showing lots of growth.
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- The grass shear trims the barberry very precisely and is so easy to maneuver. Occasionally, Phurba stops to look at the work he has done and to make sure it is straight and well aligned with hedges in the other quadrants.
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- Phurba is able to switch the blades easily as he works.
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- Once everything is trimmed, the terrace looks so much better – all the hedges are all level around the boxwood and each other. This view looks at the two north quadrants of the upper terrace parterre.
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- And here is a look at all four quadrants with my antique sugar pot in the center. Sugar kettles were used on 19th century Louisiana plantations for the production of sugar. In the winter, I use it as a fire pit when entertaining. The terrace looks great – and “check,” another task is completed from our long list.
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