When I first bought my house 24 years ago, I didn’t know much about plants. My parents were avid gardeners though and I welcomed their advice. My dad suggested I add some Crimson Pygmy barberry to my foundation planting for a pop of color with deer resistance. I planted a few barberries and they thrived. I understood why they were so popular since they were trouble free, and pests seemed to leave them alone.
Little did I know that barberries would eventually be on the invasive list due to their propensity to seed around and disrupt native species. Birds love the red fruit barberries produce and deposit them everywhere. When I’m hiking in the woods, I almost always see stands of barberry that are smothering our forests and providing a habitat for deer ticks.
The PA Department of Agriculture added Japanese Barberry, or Berberis thunbergii, to the list of noxious weeds and banned their sale and cultivation in October of 2021. The state encouraged homeowners to eliminate these popular shrubs from their properties.
Fortunately for us, plant breeders are always looking for solutions to problems. Recently, the ‘Worry Free’ series was born. Crimson Cutie® represents the first in a series of non-invasive Japanese barberries bred and tested by the University of Connecticut and approved for sale in New York and Pennsylvania. Unlike its barberry predecessors, Crimson Cutie® will not produce seedlings or spread to unwanted areas. If burgundy isn’t your color, you might consider Berberis WorryFree® Lemon Glow® which stands out with chartreuse foliage. Crimson Cutie® does best in part to full sun in well-drained soil. It will grow 1.5 – 2 feet high and 3-3.5 feet wide over time. Lemon Glow® also thrives in part to full sun and grows 18-30 inches tall and 3-4 feet wide.
Recently when I went away on vacation, the deer ate some of my hostas to the ground. I was pretty disheartened since I sprayed deer repellant all over them just before I left. When I returned from vacation, I moved the eaten hostas inside my fence line so they could recover and planted some deer resistant plants in their place – including a WorryFree® Lemon Glow®.
I look forward to seeing how my plant matures over time and hope it’s as deer resistant as those I planted many years ago. Nothing would bring me greater satisfaction than having my garden off the menu for the local herd of deer! And I’m happy we have some new deer resistant and non-invasive options to include in our gardens.
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