How can you tell is a bayberry bush is male or female? How old does it need to be to start bearing berries?
Question:
I live on property that is mostly ledge with a slim overcoat of orange “duff-type soil”. I have rooted out most of the native “junk” that has grown here, but am leaving and encouraging the bayberry bushes. However, I have no berries and have never seen a blossom. Is there a way to tell male vs. female other than by blossoms or berries? How old does a plant have to be before it starts bearing?
Answer:
It can be difficult to ID whether a given bayberry specimen is a male or female without a look at the catkins (flowers). The male flower looks like a little cluster on the stem, while the female is a single, slender structure. Neither is particularly showy, so you have to really get down and examine the plant when blooms are present–I’m not surprised you haven’t noticed blossoms. This site has a nice visual representation of the two (no endorsement of private business is intended, but the photos are helpful). As to why you aren’t getting berries, it could certainly be a male-female consideration, but it could also be a lack of pollinators or environmental stress, so make sure you are following best practices protocols for optimal plant health and be on the lookout for the flowers next spring. If you find only one type, that’s probably the problem; if you find both and the plants look otherwise healthy, it’s probably a pollinator issue (which you can often mitigate by brushing pollen from male flowers onto female flowers).
Happy gardening.