Skip to product info
SALE
Ships in FALL

Berry Girl New Mexico Privet

Forestiera neomexicana 'Berry Girl'

$17.59
$17.59 $21.99
per Plant - 5" Deep Pot
Sale | Save 20%
ZONES  4-9 | Good to grow! Zone
No shipping data More Information
We're sorry, this product cannot ship to: Canada, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, US Virgin Islands, and Guam

New Mexico Privet is an attractive multi-stemmed shrub or small tree with ornamental white bark and brilliant yellow fall foliage. ‘Berry Girl’ is a female plant that sets a huge fall crop of dark purple berries eagerly eaten by song birds. You will need a female and male plant if you wish to get berries: See Forestiera neomexicana 'Happy Boy.' Drought resistant/drought tolerant plant (xeric).

Videos
     

More Like This

Description

12-18' tall x 12' wide (cutting propagated). A deciduous, native shrub that develops great character with age. It can be grown into a dense hedge, or pruned to form a twisting, multi-stemmed small tree. The beautiful whitish bark accentuates the bright yellow fall foliage. Female plants produce considerable quantities of blue-black berries that are eaten by birds. Order at least one male and female plant to ensure berry set. A moderate to fast grower in any soil. Although drought tolerant, regular watering will help the plant to thrive and fill out quickly.

Shipping

No shipping data
We're sorry, this product cannot ship to: Canada, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, US Virgin Islands, and Guam

As soon as your order is placed you will receive a confirmation email. You will receive a second email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. Some perennials are shipped as potted plants, some as perennial roots packed in peat.  The ‘Plant Information’ section describes how that item will ship. All perennials and fall-planted bulbs are packaged to withstand shipping and are fully-guaranteed. Please open upon receipt and follow the instructions included.

Perennials and fall-planted bulbs are shipped at the proper planting time for your Growing Zone. Perennial and fall-planted bulb orders will arrive separately from seeds. If your order requires more than one shipment and all items are shipping to the same address, there is no additional shipping charge. See our shipping information page for approximate ship dates and more detailed information. If you have any questions, please call Customer Service at (801) 769-0300 or contact us by email or chat.

View

Key Features

Light Requirements

  • Full Sun

Water Tolerance

Low-Water

Advantages

  • Attracts Birds
  • Native
  • Privacy
  • Winter Interest
  • Low Maintenance

Additional information

Mature Height

12-18' tall

Mature Spread

12' wide

Soil Type

  • Average Soil
  • Sandy Soil
  • Clay Soil

Soil Moisture

  • Waterwise

Planting Time

  • Fall

Special Groups

  • High Country Gardens Exclusive
  • High Country Gardens Introduction

Native To

North America

Growing Zones

  • Zone 4
  • Zone 5
  • Zone 6
  • Zone 7
  • Zone 8
  • Zone 9

Ships As

Potted Plant

Can Send To PO Box

No
Expand For More

Overall rating: 4.5 / 5 from 12 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: ["look","tree","girls","berries","plant","soil"].

Review highlights

Reviews

No maintenance + bonus berries after long wait

"I have 5 New Mexico privet, all ordered from HCG. Two in one spot and 3 in another. Some Berry Girl and some Happy Boy. I initially watered, but haven't for several years. I wish that I never had, because they don't need it (as long as fall-planted on a moist week, and mulched with fall leaves/ground up trees). Watering only seemed to work in attracting gophers. Either way, NOTHING HAS KILLED even one of these very hardy trees. Deer munch on them. We've had drought, flood, severe winter, etc. Some of the privets are still pretty small and sparse, others quite robust. I like the diversity. Finally, this year we got little berries. It's probably been close to a decade since these were planted. The berries are tiny! Just helping to set expectations. I was thrilled. We have lots of bushes on our acreage, our property is a haven for quail, 40+ hummingbirds, all kinds of critters year round. We also have planted from HCG: 3-leaf sumac, Apache plume, giant sacaton ""windbreaker"" Lo Gro sumac, currant bushes, fernbush, etc. All doing well and some even reproducing. I love the micro-ecosystem which is taking shape with God's help."

— Crickets (5/5)

Great for high desert

"We moved to a yard in the high desert (zone 6-7) a decade ago and inherited two NM privets that are over 20 feet high. They were pruned to branch out at the top of a privacy fence and we planted 2 others with a couple of other shrubs to make a hedgerow. All the newer shrubs are several years old and growing very slowly. They are in full sun, poor soil, get only occasional supplemental water after being established and are looking healthy and beautiful. We've never seen berries, but then the shorter shrubs haven't grown tall enough to be seen from our yard. We do have a lot of happy birds."

— Sante G. (5/5)

I will be getting more next spring!

"Starting a hedge to help with wind."

— Ginny (5/5)

This NM Berry Girl Privet is AMAZING!

"Bought larger NM privet from a local nursery but out of 10 only one female. I wanted berries for the birds so ordered from High Country Gardens Utah so I could get female plants. Yes, they are small but they grow really fast with drip irrigation. Bought some to plant near all my bigger male plants and then started a row of them in another location. See Picture taken August 20 of 2022. I planted in the spring."

— Cropsis (5/5)

When will I get berries?

"I planted two Happy Girls on either side of a Happy Boy in 2016. One Girl was a little slow, but all are doing well now. The Boy is 8 ft tall, and the Girls are a little shorter. My question is WHEN WILL I GET BERRIES? I planted them for the birds, but no sign of berries after 5 years. What does it take to get berries? I would recommend them to a friend with reservations!!"

— LovetoGarden (4/5)

So far, so good

"Planted this in front of a west-facing brick wall next to the front door in hope of eventually getting a tree that will provide a bit of shade and look good in this furnace of a spot where plants go to die. It arrived healthy (though multi-stemmed) with one taller stem about six inches high. Once planted (in a gap within an existing evergreen ""bush"" of culinary sage plants) the dominant stem shot right up over the sage to get sun. It's almost 2. 5 feet tall after a couple months. I'm hopeful that it will survive the winter and become a healthy tree. Fingers crossed."

— Liz (5/5)

New Mexico Privet, beautiful and tough

"NM Privet is one of my favorite small trees. My first one I planted (many years ago--from HCG), watered a few times, and ignored. It hasn't been watered since and is a beautiful, strong tree. Our second one (purchased locally) is about to be the same. This recent plant just didn't do well. . . and I had great hopes that this girl would have berries. I've decided our climate these last few years has become too harsh for small plantings. I will be surprised if this one doesn't die, but right now it's hanging in there by a thread."

— Doberdaughter (3/5)

Might be too early to know

"I ordered Berry Girl and Happy Boy together so that I could have both sexes to produce berries for the birds to eat. Both arrived while in dormancy and were planted the same day. Happy Boy woke up and is growing just fine however Berry Girl never awoke from dormancy so HCG replaced it. The new one just arrived so I won't be able to judge its success for a few weeks."

— Sunny1az (4/5)

Came in Healthy

"So far they are doing great in full sun."

— JS (5/5)

Great for small airy tree

"prune these up for a small tree for a patio area, great for birds if you have two for the berries"

— Sagekritter (5/5)

Q&A

Your Recently Viewed