Can you tell us where you are? In some parts of the US this plant is invasive and not recommended. That means that it seeds into wild areas and displaces native plants.

How old are they and did you plant them and know something about their soil and how they were planted?

zone 5, central illinois, dont remember how old they are, yes I planted them......thats about all I can tell u, just wondered if anyone had experience with this plant and behaviour

Other than too much shade or poor soil drainage, I have never had an issue with barberries not being very full or dense. They tend to be very adaptable and a tough, hardy shrub that requires minimal maintenance other than some pruning, if you desire.

It looks like the bed is a bit lower than the road, so perhaps could it be salt runoff from snow removal or plowing and the center one is planted just a bit higher?

I don’t think they are salvageable, and when you pull them take a look at the roots to see if there are issues such as circling roots from being left too long in a pot.

I am inclined to think it is a soil issue like the salt I mentioned above since it looks like the groundcover under the middle barberry is healthier than in the areas under the dying barberries.

i dont understand how houuz does it.. but it messed up the whole reply.. while i was typing.. i will try to recreate it.. best i can ...

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give us an idea of how long.. couple years.. 5 years.. ten years .... ...us a time frame ...

what was the weather last summer.. and winter ... either of them out of the ordinary as to drought ... or severe winter temps ???

the base answer is.. always... let them bud out.. and then start cutting out dead stuff .. back to live growth ..

then step back and decide.. they look ugly as heck ... and it would have been a lot less work.. just to dig them out.. lol ...

replace the outside 2 with anything else ....

and then.. later in fall.. decide you should have just gotten rid of the third one.. while you were out there ... lol ...may as well consider that.. while you are thinking about the whole concept ...

when it all boils down... imo ... you could do so much better .. but then.. i have a personal hate for these things.. as dad had one planted under my basketball hoop.. and we.. the plant and i.. got in a lot of arguments over the ball ... of which i ended up bleeding...

ken

When I had them, they always had to be rejuvenated every few years by cutting out all the dead stuff. I got tired of getting scratched up by the thorns and got rid of them. Try cutting them down and see if they put out new growth.

Ken, I thought about replacing them, but with wwhat? Any suggestions..yes they are close to the road...but like gardengal48, I have deer passing thru too...Im so tired of the thorny messy trimming, and trying to avoid labor intensive gardening....haha, yeah right!

If you weren't shearing them into out of context formal-balls-in-an-informal-planting arrangement you wouldn't be getting poked. And they would have been a lot more interesting to look at, until the dead zones started to appear. But since something is starting to spoil them in that spot anyway your best bet would be to yank them and try something else. Something listed as salt resistant, if you see indications of that being the problem.

Given their invasiveness, awful thorns, and propensity for harboring Lyme-infested ticks, I'm going to also suggest you put them out with the garbage, salvageable or not.

I'm not familiar with plants for your area, but there are lots of websites that feature lists of alternatives to common but problematic plants such as barberry. Looking through those suggestions may give you some ideas for replacements.