How to Care for a Beautyberry Bush

Vivid purple berries on Callicarpa dichotoma, a shrub native to the U.S., adds dots of unexpected color to the late summer and early autumn landscape. Callicarpa earns its common name, beautyberry, when its late-season purple fruits make their appearance. For the rest of the year, graceful, arching stems on 6- to 8-foot tall shrubs provide a frame for shorter landscape specimens planted in front. The frame becomes the picture, however, when waterfall branches bearing a profusion of amethyst purple berries attract feeding birds.

Pine bark mulch, sphagnum peat moss or pine needles
Fertilizer for acid-loving plants or complete 16-4-8 fertilizer
Compost
Secateurs or long-handled pruning shears

Instructions

- 1
  Transplant your beautyberry shrub any time of year in U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zones 5 to 8. Site beautyberry in a sunny location; partial shade is okay, but the shrub will bear more fruit in areas with more sun. Plant Callicarpa dichotoma “Duet” in an area that receives morning sun and afternoon shade to protect its variegated foliage from burning.
- 2
  Amend alkaline soil with acidic materials, such as finely shredded pine bark or sphagnum peat moss. Select a site with moist, well-drained soil. Apply 2 to 3 inches of mulch around the beautyberry to a radius of 5 feet away from the plant. Use acidic mulch, such as pine needles or pine bark nuggets.
- 3
  Apply a complete fertilizer, such as 16-4-8, the numbers indicate the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the product. Make one application in early spring and a second application in mid-summer. Apply a fertilizer packaged for hollies and other acid-loving, fruiting landscape shrubs as an alternative. Work compost into the soil around the shrub to stimulate synergistic microbial activity that will make fertilizer more available to the plant.
- 4
  Water your beautyberry well after transplanting and maintain a watering regimen for a couple of weeks to help the plant adapt to its new environment. Ensure that the plant receives 1 inch of water weekly from rainfall or manual watering.
- 5
  Prune your beautyberry if the plant needs shaping or rejuvenating. Cut back in late winter to within 12 inches of the ground with secateurs if hard-pruning is needed to rejuvenate the plant. Remove old canes to shape the plant and open up the interior for increased air circulation.

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