What Should I Plant to Replace Barberry?

Ah, poor barberry! Always in the spotlight! After an initial ban in Canada and a very glorious comeback, it’s once again threatened with being banned… Let’s be proactive (or wise) and look at possible alternatives to replace barberries (Berberis sp.) in the garden.

Banished once…

Long ago, the cultivation of certain species of barberry (Berberis sp.) was prohibited (and also some Mahonia species), because they presented an obstacle to controlling black rust. This fungus is a serious disease affecting wheat, as well as certain varieties of barley, oats and rye, and requires barberries to complete its life cycle. From 2013 to 2025, therefore, there were long lists of both prohibited and permitted species and cultivars. Popular varieties of barberry exempted from the cultivation ban included ‘Aurea Nana’, ‘Concorde’, ‘Emerald Carousel’, ‘Golden Nugget’, ‘Rose Glow’ and ‘Sunsation’. Thus, the cultivation and sale of these horticultural varieties was permitted, as they did not host the disease.

This is how this wonderful plant made a phenomenal entrance into our gardens. Many gardeners also discovered how easy it is to grow. It quickly became a very popular plant.

Banned twice…

However, a complete review of the classification of each barberry species and cultivar has been proposed since 2022. This time, the focus is on the invasive nature of barberries. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) and its green-leaved cultivars are under particular scrutiny. While they are not officially recognized as high-risk invasive plants, some observations warrant caution. I have personally seen sections of forest in New Jersey and Pennsylvania overrun with barberries. Experience tells us that the problems our southern neighbours are experiencing are slowly spreading towards Canada.

A call for caution

With a ban looming and prevention being better than cure, here are a few ideas for alternative plants. Firstly, we should avoid any barberry that self-seeds easily in the garden. This is because the plant spreads by birds dispersing its berries. If it self-seeds in the garden, there’s a good chance it will also self-seed in the wild.

The draft regulation on invasive exotic plant species proposed by the Government of Quebec suggests authorizing all cultivars of Japanese barberry except ‘Emerald Carousel’ and ‘Jade Carousel’.

What should I replace it with?

Several shrubs can fill the gaps left by barberries in the garden. Native options worth considering include black chokeberry (Aronia sp.) and winterberry (Ilex verticillata). If you’re looking for colorful foliage, dogwoods (Cornus sericea) offer cultivars with golden or variegated leaves. For burgundy foliage alternatives, bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera), ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) and weigelas (Weigela sp.) are good options.

In short, you have to stay constantly vigilant. Our favorite plants today can sometimes become the cursed plants of tomorrow. The best way to avoid problems is to introduce native plants.

This text was written entirely by a human being and no research was conducted using artificial intelligence. The same applies to the images, which were not artificially generated.