Serviceberry??

[Bowsnbucks]

Any of you fellas have serviceberry planted at your place? There are several kinds / cultivars of it out there - some native and some hybridized. I thought I saw a thread or post mentioning it somewhere but I couldn't find it. If you have it, what are your thoughts & opinions of it? It's also known as shadbush, shadblow, Saskatoon.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Any of you fellas have serviceberry planted at your place? There are several kinds / cultivars of it out there - some native and some hybridized. I thought I saw a thread or post mentioning it somewhere but I couldn't find it. If you have it, what are your thoughts & opinions of it? It's also known as shadbush, shadblow, Saskatoon.

We had it all over the place where I used to live one LI...birds loved the berries. It grew in the sand and the wetlands of dune Swales. Never really noticed deer browsing it in any real significant way...if it were highly preferred browse then it wouldn't have been as common as it was because there were so many deer out there.

We had both the downy serviceberry and the Nantucket serviceberry out there. I think the downy is the most widely distributed of them.

 

[SD51555]

I've planted shadblow serviceberry twice. First time I got it from Musser forests and they were 2 inches long and leafed out. I'm 90% certain none of them took. Last spring, I bought larger stock from coldstream and haven't check them yet. My guess is those outfits are selling natives. I can't say a whole lot about them yet, except for if you're ordering them, get plugs if you can. If you're going bare root, order them as large as you can get because both places sent me undersized stock.

I just want to get enough going that they'll spread on their own via birds. I'm also hoping it'll help keep the grouse on the property more throughout the year. If it really goes, I'd like to juice some and make booze.

 

[Native Hunter]

You might be remembering the ones I posted in my recent thread. I believe the natives here are mostly smooth serviceberry, but downy is present too.

The smooth serviceberries can form a nice thicket here if you go through every so often and cut back the red maples and sweetgums that want to shade them out. The taste of the wild ones are pretty bland. The make nice cover about 6 feet tall in a thicket, and the ones that grow by themselves form a small tree. They are very shade tolerant. I don't consider them a really great plant, but they are okay to have around.

 

[Rally1148]

Specifically, what are you wanting them for?

My college's arboretum had a few spots that had them in it. This is what I can tell you from those observations, as well as others I've talked to (which includes a local native plant dealer).
As far as a good habitat plant yes... but not for soft mast. I haven't put them in yet on my property, but I've seen them growing in the area. I'm planning on using them to help replace A/O. I've heard basically everything that has been said above. Adaptable, not super high for browse, create structure, but not insanely thick, provide berries for wildlife, and great for pollinators. At the arb, they grew in some moderate shade, and on sandy soil. I never saw them in the driest areas, nor in the wettest, but it was not really a surprise to see them in between the extremes. I saw a little bit of evidence of browse, but not intense like one would see on elderberries. All of these are +'s in my book for overall habitat quality.

 

[ruskbucks]

I have two planted here at home. They took a long time to get fruit. I would say 5-6 years. Last year they were full of fruit. Like everybody else said the birds love them. I think the fruit lasted about two weeks after they were ripe. They are pretty good eating, kind of a cross between a blueberry and a cranberry. It doesn't hurt to plant a few. It wouldn't be one of my first picks thou.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Native - you're right. It was your thread I remember seeing serviceberry on. Danged if I could think of where it was when I was looking tho !!
I was just looking to improve diversity and keep more birds around ( maybe eat some bad insects in the apples & crabs, pears? ) My camp has about 2 1/2 miles of gas pipeline edges and I thought serviceberry might do well planted at the edge of those - sun AND shade. I know the native shadblow seems to be found around edges of openings. It would be nice to get a few to eat or make a little jammy goop to put on toast or vanilla ice cream! And I hope the birds spread them. A little extra something for critters as time goes on.

Thanks guys, for the info. Any more input / advice is always welcome !!