SEATTLE — “So, this barberry is a monster. It's out of control. It's way too big, starting to block the light from parts of my garden," said Ciscoe Morris, as he struggled to pull two gloves on to each hand in preparation for battle.
Some books say you should use hand pruners to remove individual branches – Ciscoe says that would take hours, plus you’d sustain injuries.
“This plant has the worst prickers of any plant I've ever met! That's why I have double gloves on - my rose pruning gloves and these are special cactus gloves that aren't supposed to let anything through!” Ciscoe said.
Some gardeners just grab shears and simply shear the top of the barberry bush, Ciscoe warns about that method as well: “If you do this, you end up with a ball. And it's going to look like it stars in "My Favorite Martian." Because all these new branches are going to grow right out of the top. It's going to be the ugliest thing you've ever seen in your whole life!”
Instead, Ciscoe pulls out what he calls the heavy artillery: long handled lopping shears for cutting through thick branches, because he’s cutting this barberry way back.
“So, no fooling around here. We're going down to about a foot tall,” Ciscoe said.
It still took a while, and was hard work. After his barberry cutting marathon, Ciscoe stepped back to appraise his work: "Look at how beautiful it looks now! Hey, this will grow back, it'll be spectacular, and it will at least take five years before I gotta do this again!”
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