Plants in shock often lose their leaves. If you scrape the bark on some of the stems and it shows green, then they're alive. BTW, in the future, when you plant or transplant trees or shrubs, don't improve the soil in the hole.

And don't overwater....barberries do not like there foilage watered when the sun is out. Also, barberries are imfamous for dropping their leaves after transplant.

August is perfectly fine for planting...cripes I've transplanted in August. People will argue what I did but I transplanted Spruce, Juniper, Spirea, Viburnum and Forsythia early August. I did pick a cooler overcast day to do so. All plants are perfectly healthy.

proper water is all they need ...

the fact that some leaves were retained.. tells me.. you are on the road to success .... if you dont kill it now ....

IMHO.. it lost enough leaves.. and only retained those which its amputated roots could support... in august... yikes [but i understand.. ya gotta do.. what ya gotta do]

it has the rest of the fall to regrow roots.. and all next spring.. before the heat of next summer ...

you will be responsible for PROPER water through next fall.. then it should be all set ...

it is one of the pretty bullet proof plants.. so just keep it PROPERLY watered ....

what i really dont understand.. is why you went thru all this for a barberry... lol ... but.. to each his own... lol

ken

ps: the berries were there all along.. you just didnt see them until all the leaves fell off ...

If it helps, I have noticed on mine that truly dead stems turn white, whereas alive stems are a darker brown/purple color. Either way, I wouldn't give up on them until spring. Even if the tops die (and they probably won't), they might push new growth from the roots.

I transplanted one this winter. It sat above ground for a few months before I could get into its permanent home. This spring we were sure it was dead. It grew back from the base and is almost as big as it was previously.

Your barberries would likely have been much better off without compost added to the new holes. Keep a close check on soil moisture both around and in the rootballs. Drainage problems are part of the reason soil amendment is usually contraindicated when planting trees and shrubs.

We move a Barberry plant from our neighbours garden to ours. Did it in September, and most of the leaves have fallen off! Have we killed it?

Read the previous responses. There's nothing more to say about it.