Mahonia
Berberis aquifolium
One of the few shrubs to flower in dry shade in November, and it takes a hard renovation when it outgrows its corner.
- Type
- Shrub · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Green
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Sunlight
- Deep shade through to full sun — one for the dark corners.
- Watering
- Takes dry shade once established; water it through the first year.
- Feeding
- A compost mulch in spring; extra feeding is rarely needed.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- November
- Pruning
- Prune after flowering — it tolerates hard renovation.
- Mar–Nov Spring Growth
- Nov–Dec Flowering
- Dec–Dec Growing
- Jan–Mar Growing
- Plant spacing
- 4 ft 11 in
- In-row spacing
- 4 ft 11 in
- Between rows
- 6 ft 2 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
- Root system
- Woody and fibrous
- Working depth
- 12–24 in
- Can reach
- 3 ft down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 7.5–10 ft across, about 1.5–2× the width of the plant
- Shallowest pot
- 20 in of soil
A shallow woody framework with the fine feeding roots in the leaf litter above it. Those feeders are mostly under the outer half of the canopy rather than against the stem, which is where water and feed should go.
It suckers gently at the base into a wider clump, which is how the low-growing species make ground cover.
The habit is Mahonia’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
- Cats and dogs
- Confirmed safe
We say a plant is safe only where a named poison-control reference names that exact species and records it as non-toxic to both cats and dogs. Most plants are on nobody’s list, and their absence here is not a judgement about them. This is a record of what those references say, not veterinary advice, and it cannot account for your own animal, the quantity eaten, or a plant treated with anything.
Two ASPCA rows at our exact species under its other accepted name, Mahonia aquifolium for our Berberis aquifolium, both recorded Non-Toxic to Dogs, Non-Toxic to Cats, Non-Toxic to Horses. Species-level rather than genus-level, so it clears. Nothing contradicts it: the Pet Poison Helpline has no Mahonia or Oregon Grape page, and the ASPCA carries no other Mahonia or Berberis row.
- Sawfly Berberis sawfly
- Powdery mildew A white dusty coating over leaves and shoots when roots are dry but the air is humid. Keep plants watered and mulched, prune for airflow, and remove the worst leaves.
- Rust Orange-brown powdery pustules on leaf undersides, weakening the plant over the season. Remove affected leaves, avoid overhead watering, and clear all debris in autumn.
Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant
- Parasitic wasps Braconidae & TrichogrammaHunts Sawfly
Tiny, stingless wasps that lay eggs in or on caterpillars, aphids, and moth eggs — the white cocoons riding a hornworm are their calling card, so leave that caterpillar be. Umbel flowers with shallow nectar keep the adults fuelled.
- Spined soldier bug Podisus maculiventrisHunts Sawfly
A predatory stink bug — same shield outline as the pest, but with a sharp spine at each shoulder and a beak it uses to spear caterpillars and beetle grubs. Learn the spines before you squash a shield bug, because this one is on your side.
- Tachinid fly TachinidaeHunts Sawfly
Bristly, house-fly-lookalike parasitoids that lay eggs on caterpillars, beetle grubs, and earwigs — the maggot consumes the host from within. Adults sip nectar from shallow umbels and daisies.
Hellebores, Ferns, Sarcococca
Shrubs, like this one.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com