I have a small American Beautyberry that I think I bought at a plant sale in Arlington last spring from @Frostweed or one of her gang.

Hadn't planted it and one day I saw the leaves all shriveled up. Shock and awe! I moved it to a shadier spot and watered it well. Surprisingly the leaves 'unshriveled'. Not being sure where to plant it I was planning to give it to a friend.

Now it has a new problem which I hope won't be a major issue. Suddenly one side of the plant was bare. Obvious suspect is a squirrel.

Here's what the plant looks like although the picture makes it look taller than it is.



And here are the remains of the day.




So the plant is lopsided. Wish I had a 'before' picture but I didn't anticipate that anything would happen. Anyway, prior to the damage it was lovely and balanced.

Question is whether it will thrive once planted or possibly remain lopsided with leaves and branches on one side and nothing on the other.

I know that this is the perfect time to plant. Advice?

Go ahead and plant. Those bushes are practically bulletproof.
In fact, I've planted cuttings and they rooted and became bushes too.
Some people cut them down to the ground in February or march. They grow back fine.

Yes, as Stone said, go ahead and plant it. Maybe set it a little deeper than it is in the pot, and cut it back to 3 or 4 nodes from the ground, that will cause it to develop side branches and make it bushy.
Also don't set it in full sun, they are understory plants in our area, so partial shade is good. Also they do like water so don't forget to water it, especially in the summer.

Actually... I wouldn't cut it back at this time... Wait...
Pruning shrubs in the autumn.... May cause them to send out new growth... Just in time for winter cold to burn it back.
Nothing you can do about the squirrel, but no need to add to the damage.

Thanks, y'all.

This is probably a more realistic picture. The arrow is pointing to where the break occurred.



I already learned about too much sun and giving it enough water. I was mostly concerned about it being lopsided.

Speaking (sorta) of squirrels, I'm only seeing one or two now and then. Usually there's a squad of them 24/7. Plus I have oaks and it's acorn season. However, there's a pair of hawks that live in the wooden steeple of an old church about a mile away. I'm wondering if the hawks have something to do with the disappearance of the squirrels. 🤔

Yes, I'd plant it where it's in dappled shade. The wild ones at my cabin are in mostly shade. The ones here in the city are out in full morning sun and struggle in that heat. Luckily they don't get any of the the late afternoon scorching summer sun. Have to water those 3 very frequently, too.
I recently learned they like acidic soil (mine in town were getting yellowish leaves as we have alkaline soil), so give yours "acid-lover" fertilizer on a regular schedule (monthly?) if your soil is alkaline (once it gets established and is putting on new, healthy leaves). These bushes, the literature states, THRIVE on pruning, like crepe myrtles, as they bloom on new growth. So pruning will force new branches, more blooms and ultimately more berries.

Before acid fertilizer, late-Summer (2 y.o. purchased plant):



After 1 application acid fertilizer, slightly greening up, late October after leaves beginning to drop off:

Yes, I'd plant it where it's in dappled shade. The wild ones at my cabin are in mostly shade. The ones here in the city are out in full morning sun and struggle in that heat. Luckily they don't get any of the the late afternoon scorching summer son. Have to water those 3 very frequently, too.
I recently learned they like acidic soil (mine in town were getting yellowish leaves as we have alkaline soil), so give yours "acid-lover" fertilizer on a regular schedule (monthly?) if your soil is alkaline (once it gets established and is putting on new, healthy leaves). These bushes, the literature states, THRIVE on pruning, like crepe myrtles, as they bloom on new growth. So pruning will force new branches, more blooms and ultimately more berries.

Before acid fertilizer, late-Summer (2 y.o. purchased plant):



After 1 application acid fertilizer, slightly greening up, late October:

Beautyberry bush... picture taken September 11-19

we were in a drought... don't do much for my beauty berries... and they're all covered with berries.
not sure that your conditions are that different from my house in the sandhills...

I suspect my soil conditions in Temple are considerably different than Georgia, Stone. I'm in Central Texas smack dab on top of the Edward Limestone Plateau that runs the length of the state. Everywhere you dig a hole you hit white limestone. You have to acidify for so many plants here, acid-loving is the only kind of fertilizer I'm buying anymore. But I had no idea until August Beautyberries like acidic soil. Now I know and now I'm addressing that problem. Down at our cabin in Gause, where the soil is sandy and a little less alkaline than Temple's, the Beautyberry leaves are nice and dark green with no amending or special needs. Birds planted those and they are thriving without an ounce of tending by me.

k... My hands on experiences gardening in TX was pretty much limited to the Dallas area and east to the Sabine...

Temple and Gause look real close to each other on the map... but... there are A number of widely different soils just in the city of Macon... so... that you are seeing some difference makes sense... so...

maybe you could explain the difference between caliche and limestone?

Glad to hear that Gause, at least... is like my house...

Edit... Maybe not so close... 5 towns in between...

I'm not sure there is much difference between the two sediment materials per definitions, Stone. Both basically calcium carbonate in variant forms. But the quantities layered in the soil here compared to Gause may vary. That's the only thing I can make of the difference in the Beautyberries there and here. Mine here in the city struggle with drought and the limestone. Down there, they suffer the same drought periods as we do, pretty much, yet those Beautyberries look so much greener and healthier. Danged if I can figure it out. I do hope now that I bought a 12# bag of acid-loving fertilizer that just arrived this week, I can dose my azaleas, gardenias and now, my American beautiberries as well, more often and have healthier plants all 'round.

The soil in Gause is pure sand 2' deep and deeper. You don't even need to use your foot on the shovel to dig a hole for planting, seriously. I just push and scoop it up. So lots of soil amendments needed in Gause. In Temple, I and my husband can hardly dig a hole with all our efforts using shovels. It's black soil with a clay and limestone mix. Plus I have to fight tree roots everywhere in this yard when I dig a hole.

I have a beauty berry that the birds started for me in my back yard. I leave it alone, don't do anything to it no watering, etc. and it is beautiful. It grows in dappled shade. Even though I have alkaline soil I have three huge pine trees in the back yard and the base is naturally mulched with pine needles.Boy, I really need to rake those needles! Up in the northern part of the state, the soil is mostly limestone. Here in the river valley we have a mix where the lowland soil meets the rockier soil of the high lands. Because I live in the city, there can be the addition of brought in topsoil where the houses are built. I have found that even if you know about the soil in your general area, you still need to test your soil in your own yard.

Oh, that reminds me. The only area of my yard that I haven't surveyed is where my baby beautyberry is. Should be ok. Survived drought (my bad) and squirrel damage so surely has survived last night's storms.

I sure hope that you didn't have a lot of damage. I was watching the news and saw all the destruction in Texas.

No damage. One plant blew over. Or maybe a squirrel knocked it over. But it only lost a few leaves. And the beautyberry is fine.

I always worry about my trees but my arborists were here a few weeks ago and pruned a few dead branches from my oaks. Still, one never knows.

Guess my neighborhood was lucky. We are very close to several areas that were hit by the first storm.

So glad you (and your plants) are ok. The city I live in was established in the 1830s, and we have a lot of 100 + year old oaks. I hate to see them blown over by storms or lost to disease. Recently a huge 150 year old red oak had to be cut down on our Main Street due to disease. All the tree lovers were devastated by this. I don't condone cutting trees down for no reason, I think that we should work around trees when we plan and build. I hate to see sites cleared of all trees to build a house.

Peggy8b said:The soil in Gause is pure sand 2' deep and deeper.

Ok... At my house... White sand a hunnert foot down...
Driving around here... Means we can get stuck in the drought... Some rain tightens up the sand... Stupid road grader comes by... after a rain finally makes the sand passable... and loosens it again...

Anyway... The beauty berries are impervious to drought... Here.

Jealous of your clay...
I'll bet you can grow serious veggies...

We have clay, too, and it grows great vegetables once you get the rocks out! My ex was raised on some acreage in north Pulaski county, and some of his earliest garden memories was "throwing rocks" , walking behind his dad as he was plowing and throwing the rocks to one side, which were used to make fences.

I was just gob-smacked the other day when I discovered not one but TWO more Beautyberrry bushes at our cabin. They were hidden in the fence line by some scrub yaupon holly at the base of an oak tree. One only has two trunks and doesn't look so healthy, but the other one has perhaps 10 trunks and is probably 7-8' tall! I was just too tired when I found them to do much with them, but plan to get back in that thicket with some loppers and a curved hand saw and clear the yaupon holly out completely (as it's also hiding a crepe myrtle tree I'd like to expose). Guess I have my work "cut out" for me (pun intended) next trip down there. LOL Look forward to that big one getting more sun exposure after a thorough trimming of surrounding brush. Should leaf/bloom and berry nicely next year. It will get dappled sun where it is located, even after the clean-up, but some full sun is likely after that effort.