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This Fruit-Bearing Tree Will Thrive In Poor Growing Conditions
By BROOKE YOUNGER
While fruit trees need specific environmental conditions to thrive and are targets for pests and disease, the juneberry is a hardy tree that produces fruit even in poor conditions.
Also known as snowy mespilus, Amelanchier, serviceberry, shadbush, or saskatoon berry, the juneberry tree is ideal for inexperienced gardeners, as it's independent and easy to grow.
The tree is native to North America, growing wild across the country. Its fruit was used by Native Americans to make pemmican, consisting of berries, dried meats, and animal fat.
Juneberry is a member of the rose family and related to apples and pears. Its fruit tastes like wild blueberries and makes great jams or pies, plus the local wildlife loves them.
This is an ideal fruit tree to grow in your garden. Unlike many other fruit trees, they do well in moist clay soil, and while they prefer full sun, they can grow in partial shade.
In very wet areas, juneberries are susceptible to diseases like rust, powdery mildew, and leaf spot, but sufficient sunlight should dry out their leaves enough to avoid infection.
While juneberry trees need little interference, you should prune it if needed in fall or early spring before new leaf buds emerge, and enrich its soil once a year with compost.
These trees can self-pollinate, but they do best when grown near another juneberry. In spring it produces delicate white star-shaped blooms, and its fruit ripens in mid-summer.