Shrub ID help please

[margali]

I just bought a house and I need to figure out what is already planted. All the landscaping is very overgrow and needs trimmed.

Does anyone have a good plant ID site to recommend? I tried the NGA and several sites without much luck.

Shrub 1 very overgrown, no flowers right now

Shrub 2

Shrub 3

thanks for any IDs!
Margali

 

[vfem]

Shrub 1, does it have thorns?

Shrub 2 looks like a chinese privet to me, but slightly different then ours. Do those spring blooms that fall off give way to berries in the fall & winter?

Shrub 3 a Deutzia of some type maybe?

 

[patandchickens]

#1 is bugging me, I am pretty sure I know what it is but am drawing a blank. Let me think about it. A golden boxwood maybe? Although it does not look 100% right for typical green boxwood leaves.

#2 is definitely *not* a privet, the leaves are wrong and the flowers of privet are in a broad pyramid/spike type arrangement not a small flattish head like that. I think it is probably one of the white-flowering spring spiraeas (bridalwreath, snowmound, that sort of thing).

#3 my kneejerk reaction is Kerria (has pretty yellow pompom flowers later in the season) but could concievably be Weigela or several other things.

Not exactly firm ID's there LOL but gives you something specific to google and compare to.

Will continue to think about #1, now it's going to annoy me til I (or someone else) gets it

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Northernrose]

1 is a Japanese Barberry 'Aurea' (Berberis thunbergii)
2 is possibly a spiraea there's so many kinds it's hard to tell.

 

[vfem]

Yeah, I'm seeing #2 is a spirea... I just don't know which it would be since the flowers are spent. :/

 

[thistlebloom]

I second the #1 as barberry, although I didn't see thorns.
And #3 looks like Kerria to me too.

 

[patandchickens]

There ya go, that's definitely it... #1 is for sure a golden barberry. Now I can sleep tonight LOL. I believe I actually do see several thorns in the photo now that I know it's a barberry <g>

As far as which spring-blooming white spirea #2 is, in my opinion it doesn't really matter a whole lot since they don't seem to differ a lot except in size and minor details of when they bloom. It *has* to be a white one though since all teh pink ones bloom considerably later in the season and have somewhat different leaves.

Pat

 

[margali]

The first shrub has some very tiny thorns.
So verdict is:
1. golden barbarry
2. spirea, white variety
3. Kerria or possibly deutzia

Trimming requirements would be the same for all varieties of spirea correct? I don't necessarily care if I cut off this/next year's flowers. I just want to get in the side door.

Margali

 

[thistlebloom]

Spirea and barberry can be cut back drastically and never miss a beat. I don't have any experience with kerria tho', so....?
I was going to add that if you have a decent nursery around locally you can take a cutting in for an ID. It wouldn't hurt to also take a photo of the shrubs growth habit for an additional clue.

 

[patandchickens]

If you don't care too much about next year's blooms then do whatever you like. All the nattering on about "prune this shrub this way, prune that shrub that way" is oriented almost entirely towards getting best bloom the next year. Also to some extent towards maintaining a pleasing architecture or growth form.

Personally, I think that the shrubs that want to have long curving or arching branches (like white spring spireas and especially Kerria) look best if you try to take out whole branches, to the ground or near to it, rather than chopping their arms off at the elbows so to speak. Stiffer things like barberry (the more compact rigid barberries like the one you have, I mean) can just be whacked apart wherever function and aesthetics dictate.

You will get best bloom next year (I know you said you didn't care LOL) if you prune sooner rather than later; either now (if you don't care about summer flowers on the Kerria) or RIGHT IMMEDIATELY after the flowers fade (it's time now for the spirea).

When you are pruning, it is worth thinking about what's likely to grow in afterwards, and therefore try to prune just above a healthy-looking bud or branch that's pointing in the direction you want new growth to go.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat