A YEAR IN THE LIVE OF MY NEW BERBERIS SHOHIN.

I bought this Urban Yamadori a year ago at my friend Teunis Jan Klein’s place “Deshima”. This sweet little plant and 3 others that I bought that day, were selvaged growing around a 50-year-old train station that was about to be demolished. I fell for the thickness and movement of that short trunk that was hidden underneath all that young foliage. This is how she looked when I bought her on 5-9-2009:

Above: As you can see in these pictures, the plastic container was broken, so that same day, I replaced it with a similar-sized one of my own.

Below: 28-1-2010. I had a good day recovering from my back operation, so I felt like doing something! And this little Berberis thunbergii was not too big to handle, but challenging enough to keep me busy!

Below: After its first styling. In this picture, you can see that I left two possible cascading branches on the tree. I wanted to get more used to this little tree’s new image before I finally would decide which one to save and use in my design. A few days later I looked at the tree again and then I knew for sure, so I removed the top/back branch. I liked the future of the bottom/front branch that I saved better. And removing the front/bottom branch would have meant, that I would be left with a large scar, smack in my face! So the choice was not that difficult after all. But there is no sense in rushing these things!

Below: 19-9-2010. And this is, after a few little more wires were applied, how she looks today after just one year in my garden. Amazing how quick this species grows!

                                                           Below: For size!

I can’t wait to plant it in a nice bluish/greenish cascade pot. I think that colour would look beautiful with the yellow flowers and later on with the dark green/purple-red foliage and red berries! I hope you enjoyed this little story?!
Cheers,
Hans van Meer.