THE REAL DIRT
Small serviceberry tree beautiful during brief blooming period,
Get a serviceberry. It will serve you well.
This small tree isn’t particularly noticeable most of the year, yet how welcome it looks when we’re feeling starved for something green.
Early May, after the long boring winter, is when the serviceberry usually gets decked out in its fleeting finery (although last week, a few forced versions could be spotted in display gardens at Canada Blooms).
Clouds of little white flowers tend to appear abruptly all over the serviceberry. Then they vanish with the same speed. Turn your back, in fact, and — wham — they’ve gone. Yet the effect is heartwarming, if only for a few days.
You can spot this tree’s haze of white in all kinds of locations: ravines, untamed areas of parks, the countryside, as well as the gardens of a few savvy folks. And they often appear under taller trees because the admirable Amelanchier (to use its Latin name) is native to North America and capable of adapting to a variety of habitats.
So why don’t more of us add this charmer to our gardens? While on a trip in the Netherlands a few years ago, a serviceberry was blooming beautifully in just about every front yard that we passed on the tour bus.
Yet ironically, it’s not so popular here, its homeland.
But with native species being all the rage now, I hope the modest serviceberry’s time to shine has come. It can be grown as a tree with a single trunk, or pruned to become bushlike. There are also shrubby versions. Trees may reach about nine metres high (but often don’t) and they don’t get bossy in gardens — highly appropriate for the mild-mannered Canadians they are.
You won’t find a serviceberry branch swiping you in the face or poking your eye out when you bend down to plant other stuff. In fact, it’s an ideal choice for small lots.
The Amelanchier finds most locations acceptable — in full sun or part shade, although it prefers sun and won’t flower in heavy shade. Landscape Ontario says the serviceberry doesn’t mind dryness, but I find that my two, planted near my pond, do better during sum- mers when we have a reasonable amount of rain.
The kinds most often on offer in garden centres are the downy serviceberry Amelanchier arborea and the Allegheny serviceberry Amelanchier laevis. Either is fine. Come September, they have two other pluses: clusters of plummy red berries (which birds like) and foliage that turns a fetching orangey red.
However, because the serviceberry is small, don’t expect this tree to deck itself out the way whacking great maples and oaks do in October.
This is one of Mother Nature’s quieter creations. The leaves always look sort of skimpy and it’s content to sit on the sidelines during the grand fall cavalcade of colour.
Yet if you’re looking for an easy, environmentally friendly tree that won’t become a hassle, the serviceable serviceberry fills the bill nicely. Plant one this spring. They’re sold in many garden centres. soniaday.com