Serviceberries

by Pat Diaz, from the February 2004 Newsletter

One of my very favorite sights in the Spring is the serviceberry tree. Its beautiful creamy white flowers (sometimes pinkish) emerge early in the Spring, signaling rebirth and warmth to come. The serviceberry tree provides not only these beautiful flowers, but it also provides four-season interest and wonderful edible berries. In Autumn, serviceberry leaves turn a beautiful fiery red and then in Winter, the gray bark looks beautiful in our snowscapes.

A serviceberry tree might just be the perfect planting for your yard. It’s a native of the area, and if you take an early Spring drive out into the country, you’ll likely see many of these beautiful trees and shrubs.

Serviceberry trees are small trees, often shrubs, and sometimes go by other names such as juneberry, Saskatoon berry, shadblow or shadbush. Birds love the tiny berries and they might get to them before you do. If you’re lucky enough to find some of these berries, their wonderful nutty blueberry flavor is delicious in jams, cobblers, pies, muffins, etc. They were a favorite of Native Americans and early American settlers. Your serviceberry tree will produce berries after about two to three years.

The serviceberry is a member of the plant group Amelanchier (am-el-lang-kee-urh), a group of about 25 kinds of native deciduous small trees and shrubs. Serviceberries are related to roses but the flowers only last about a week so most people don’t plant them for their flowers. They are beautiful, however, planted against a backdrop of evergreens, where the serviceberry’s flowers, fall foliage, and winter gray bark can stand out. They grow to anywhere between six to forty feet (we have a few on our property that have been there for many years and they aren’t over about 18 feet) and spread anywhere from five to thirty feet. I would consider them to be a rather narrow tree for their height.

Serviceberries are very hardy (to –20) and, in fact, need a winter chill to produce Spring flowers. They need little pampering and will grow in both full sun and partial shade. They like a moist soil that drains well, but as you can see in the Spring, they tolerate our clay soils.

When you plant a serviceberry, make sure the area where the main trunk meets the root ball (called the root flare) is just above the soil line. The hole needs to be three to five times wider than the root ball so that it can easily spread its roots. The roots are not invasive; therefore, you can plant things around them. The light shade provided by serviceberry trees won’t overshadow other plantings.

I hope you will enjoy this harbinger of Spring as much as I do.

Copyright: Copyright on articles, recipes and images are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective contributors, except were otherwise noted.

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