Sick Berberis

Hi,

Here are three pics of my Berberis, it looks very short of leaves and not very well

Does anybody have any idea what could be wrong with it?

Thanks, Nick

 

is it located close the maple you are asking about in the other thread that isn't doing well either? if they are close together might be a clue

 

They are quite far apart - about 20m

 

looks like mildew to me, probably needs spraying with a fungicide

 

It will shortly lose it's leaves but for the past 2 years it does seem to be coated in a white'ish powder

 

I think its powdery mildew, probably not getting enough air flow being crammed in.

Spray with a fungicide from next spring and do this regularly also give it a general spring feed eg chicken manuare pellets.

 

Hi Nick. Looks like mildew to me also.

 

Nick, the plant is Berberis thunbergia purpureum, and the problem is powdery mildew. Spray with a contact/systemic fungicide.

 

I purchased some today - Many thanks for the help

 

I'm sympathetic because I have 2 mature berberis (had 3) which get this every year, although they are not crowded by other plants. I do spray them and they recover - hope that's comforting - but it does come back annually. The 3rd berberis I cut right back to the ground to get rid of the problem which was worse on that shrub, and the shrub was more healthy ( but smaller) the next year. However, the mildew still came back on the new shoots, though not as bad - so I'm back to spraying. Nothing else seems to suffer in our garden. Is it common to berberis?
Lindy