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Is Bayberry a garbage plant?

16 years ago

I planted 1 northern bayberry about 5 years ago after seeing them on the Atlantic coast. They are not common in Minnesota where I live. I have a female and never get fruit.

Anyway, there are suckers coming up everywhere, and I'm thinking final solution here, Roundup then shovel-prune. The leaves are not evergreen in this climate (drop around New Years), and the suckers are all over, in the grass and everything.

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Comments (2)

Embothrium
16 years ago
Matter of opinion.
york_rose
16 years ago
If you only have a female you'll never get fruit. Frankly, from a visual standpoint I am underwhelmed by the fruit. The shrubs are also not evergreen where I live, ten miles north of Boston and right on the very coast. They survive the winter and manage just fine in the dunes along the ocean, or in the rocky cliffs above it, but I don't know that I'd plant it if I lived in Minnesota, not unless I planned to harvest fruit and had planted males to make fruiting possible. The odor of the fruit is to die for, but the appearance of the fruit and the plant have always left me less than impressed (despite my fierce adoration for bayberry candles!)
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Both can be wonderful shrubs. Please note that some bayberry bushes will only grow to about 3-4 feet in the great lakes region, so read up on the variety you look at. Bayberry has a wonderful scent (both leaves and fruit) and the berries can last a long time. They do tend to like wet soil but well draining so that may be a consideration. Honeysuckle can grow to 10 feet in the right conditions. You also have a bit of choice in the bloom color with honeysuckle. If you want a wild/natural look, honeysuckle is easy as pie. If you want to train it you've got your work cut out for you. Personally, I find honeysuckle to be very easy and effective as a hedge. Do make sure you get one that is hardy but isn't invasive in your area.
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If it is slow this year, it may also be slow next year, but then it will shoot up. My biggest plant almost got mowed over because it languished for the first 2 years. I have a low tolerance for languishing plants. By languished, I mean that while the others grew a foot and made a dozen small offsets, this one stayed about 6 inches and produced not a single offset. Today, the others are nice clumps, and the languishing one is about 3 ft. tall and this year (5 yr. old) it made a forest of offsets. I just wish I had a male. What are the odds you plant 4 plants and they are all females.
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I just purchased another 10 Northern Bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) seedlings from the NH Nursery. They are larger this year than last and very healthy-looking. They have retained lots of foliage this year, probably due to the snow-cover in New England. Can't beat the price - $1 each! They definitely sucker and form thickets. I could clearly see vigorous 4-8 inch "side shoots" near the top of the roots - they look like a cross between roots and branches. I trimmed those off because they are going into holding beds, and I don't want them to encourage suckering until they are planted out. Northern bayberry is a rugged shrub that prefers full sun, is very drought tolerant, and can grow in lean soil. They would be a great hillside planting. I'm not sure they would be the best for foundation planting due to the spreading nature? But you might be able to keep them under control if you prune the suckers. How about Azalea of some kind?
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Yes, very cold hardy You can try Conestoga Nursery, in Lancaster County when they open in spring. Info: http://www.gardens.com/local/pennsylvania/1364-Conestoga-Nursery/#b Here is a link that might be useful: link
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