These modern spaces prove that the dining room is far from dead.

You can dig down 6 to 8 inches to check soil moisture. At this depth the soil should feel cool and moist. If it feels wet turn off sprinklers and let soil dry somewhat before watering again. In this heat make sure your watering is early in the morning so no water is on the leaves as the sun can also burn foliage quite easily in the heat of the day.

If your barberries' leaves are scorched along their edges and falling off, then take a close look at your watering schedule, and revise it if necessary to help the shrubs develop deep roots. Advertisement. BTW there is no point in going to the trouble of removing the 'dead' leaves, especially on something prickly like a Berberis. It does nothing to help the plant live. If the leaves are really dead they will drop of their own accord.

If they are merely dehydrated they will revive with water. Some barberry species are considered semi-evergreen, retaining their leaves till late fall or mid-winter. Mentor Barberry (B x mentorensis), USDA zones 5 through 8, is semi-evergreen, retaining its.

Jul 04, Based on your description I am not certain what is happening to your barberries. They require a well drained soil, meaning not sopping wet or saturated, and they are very drought tolerant once established. However, as new plants they would need evenly moist soil, meaning damp like a wrung out sponge, to encourage them to root and establish. Are the branches dying, or is it only the foliage looking bad? If it's only the foliage then the plants should survive and it's probably an insect probelm.

If branches are dying it may be a fungus or disease. If so, prune off all of the dead branches. Remove all leaves from the ground around the plant. Spray a systemic fungicide. The fungus Phytophthora attacks the roots of barberry plants, causing stunted, wilted and discolored leaves that drop from the branches prematurely. Root rot leads to branch and twig die back and.