My b/f finished building a garden box for me in the front yard. We bought a number of shrubs and plants for it, one of them being a beauty bush. I have been reading some of the postings about this, and I'm understanding that they grow quite large. Would it still be okay in my garden box if it is pruned to keep a smaller shape?
I'm a novice at gardening, so any help would be greatly apppreciated :)
this is a pic of the finished Garden box...
Is Beauty Bush the same as Beautyberry (Callicarpa?) If so you can certainly prune it but you'll miss out on a lot of the berries since they grow along the whole length of the branch. That said, though, mine always suffer from breakage over the winter. Yet they manage to put out a lot of new growth before flowering and look perfectly fine by the time they fruit. They're just not the spectacular specimens they could be otherwise.
Beautyberry can be pruned back in winter and it will still thrive the next fall. Mine are browsed in winter by my equine but then come back. Here is one example:
I have 3 of them that are about 1 1/2 yr old, but they haven't put out any berries yet. They're in my natural area and get morning sun. They've leafed out great, but no berries.
I believe they are not the same - Beauty Bush is Kolkwitzia amabalis. Beauty Berry is Callicarpa.
Aaaah ha!
Beautybush is the common name for Kolkwitzia amabilis. I might put that elsewhere. I've seen them get about 15' x 15'. I think it would overwhelm any other shrubs or perennials close to it. I may be wrong, but I doubt they prune well to a small size.
Whatever the pic in passiflora_pink is, i have:)
