Berberis Thunbergii Atropurpurea Hedging

Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea is the purple-red leaved variety of Japanese Barberry. With its vandal-proof, vicious spines and springy, arching stems, this medium sized shrub makes a very good prickly hedge or specimen bush. It is an ornamental plant, decked out with small yellow, pink-tinged flowers in spring that mature into bright red, inedible berries in summer. The small leaves are purple for most of the year, bursting into a red Autumn display. It is a thorny shrub that makes a great hedge plant, suitable for any well drained soil. Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea is quite shade tolerant and is good for hedges up to 2-3 metres high.

View our selection of berberis hedging or see our full range of hedging plants.

Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea hedge plants are delivered bareroot during winter (Nov-March) and pot-grown year round. Bareroot bushes are cheaper than pot grown plants. Pot grown shrubs are available in the largest sizes.

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 40/60cms. They are cheaper than larger plants, easier to handle and they will establish well in poor conditions. All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots or pots aren't measured).

Spacing a Purple Barberry hedge:
Plant Berberis Atropurpurea hedging at 3 plants per metre, 33cms apart.

History & uses of Red Japanese Barberry: This species was introduced to Europe from Japan in the 1860's and these red-purple forms were cultivated in the early 20th Century.

Growing Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea plants:
Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea will grow well in any soil, including heavy clay and chalk, as long as the site has decent drainage conditions. It is quite shade tolerant and should do well in dappled shade underneath big trees. It will grow near to the coast and in polluted urban areas.
They will not grow well if the site is in full shade or if the soil is prone to waterlogging.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you plant a hedge several months in advance, especially if the soil is poor. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and a glyphosate based weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades. If your soil is rich, you don't have to dig it over, but killing all the weeds is still necessary.

Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details. The plants in this video are delivered pot-grown, but planting out bareroot stock is essentially the same.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer. We always recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Misc	Shrub, Wildlife Value
Shade	Partial Shade
Area	Coastal Areas, Exposed Windy Areas
Soil	Acidic, Alkaline/Chalky, Poor/Dry
Colour	Yellow/Gold
Type	Hedging
Also Good	Autumn Colour, Berries

	NUMBER OF PLANTS
SIZES	1-9	10-49	50-249	250-999	1000+
40/60 cm Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£2.33	Plenty of Stock£1.75	Plenty of Stock£1.65	Plenty of Stock£1.55	Plenty of Stock£1.25

Purple Berberis Hedging

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Berberis Thunbergii Atropurpurea Hedging