TRAVERSE CITY, MI – There are two widely popular landscaping shrubs wreaking havoc on forests across Michigan and the Midwest: Japanese barberry and winged burning bush. The bushes are known to ...

Extension educator Kathy Zuzek has written an informative article about the Japanese barberry. The plant is considered a nuisance now because it reproduces so rapidly. Avoid planting this bush in your ...

LANSING, Mich. – Two popular ornamental plants often used by landscapers may become illegal to buy, sell or plant in the ground in Michigan – in addition to four other known invasive species.

In January 2026, Michigan announced that by 2028, it would no longer allow landscapers or homeowners to purchase, sell, or plant the coveted Japanese barberry shrub (Berberis thunbergii). The news ...

Japanese barberry, a red-berried ornamental shrub that graces many a yard in Lancaster County, and Bradford pear trees, still celebrated for their explosion of white blossoms on Lancaster city streets ...

Ages ago, when I first got started in education, I worked at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. One of the many research projects I helped educate others about involved experiments on how ...