Serviceberry: Plants & uses of the rare tree species

The service tree is a native tree species that is rarely found in forests. With us you will learn everything about the service tree, its properties and planting it in your own garden.

Despite its valuable wood and edible fruit, the service tree is hardly known and is only rarely planted. We will introduce you to the native tree species and give tips on planting, caring for and using the service tree.

Serviceberry: origin and properties

The serviceberry (Sorbus torminalis) is also known as Atlas berry, Adlitz berry, Wilder Sperberbaum, Swiss pear tree or Ruhr pear, since its fruits used to be taken against dysentery.
It is closely related to the mountain ash or rowan berry (

Sorbus aucuparia) and belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae). It is distributed across Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and North Africa and is found in Germany mainly in the central German hill country, southern Germany and the foothills of the Alps up to an altitude of 900 m. The serviceberry is considered climate tree.

The service tree grows as a medium-sized tree up to a height of 10 to 25 m and its crown becomes up to 12 m wide in old age. On shallow soils, on the other hand, it develops more into a large shrub or as a small tree of around 5 to 10 m in height. When young, it is extremely fast-growing and increases the length of its shoots by 40 to 60 cm a year. The sought-after wood of the service tree is extremely hard, tough and white-yellow to reddish in colour. It is often offered at top prices under the name "pear tree" and is used for making flutes and small pieces of furniture as well as for turning work and as veneer. The buds of the service tree in winter are ovate, 7-9 mm long and green with a brown edge. The maple-like, rounded, lobed leaves of the service tree are matt grey-green on the underside. In autumn, the tree turns a splendid yellow-orange to reddish-brown.

The white, bee-friendly flowers of the service tree grow in large panicles and bloom from May to June. They are reminiscent of apple blossoms, but give off a rather unpleasant smell. The resulting edible fruits are ovoid and about 1.5 cm long. From October onwards, after the effects of frost, the serviceberry fruits, which are soft and leathery brown in color after the effects of frost, feed birds and mammals. The service tree is a weak, competitive pioneer tree that needs sufficient light to develop. Therefore it is hardly to be found in our densely planted and rather dark forests.

tip: In contrast to rowanberries, serviceberries are edible even when raw. The leaves of the rowan berry are also lobed, the fruits turn orange-red when ripe and can be clearly distinguished from the service tree.

Plant serviceberry: location, time and procedure 

The service tree is a warmth-loving tree that should only be planted individually in larger gardens. The ideal location for service berries is on dry to fresh, nutrient-rich and calcareous, well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. The pH can range from 4.5 to 8, i.e. it can range from acidic to slightly alkaline. The checkerberry dies or hardly grows on wet soil or pure sand.

The best time to plant the trees is between October and the end of November, when they go into hibernation and have lost most of their leaves. Most tree nurseries offer standard service trees, half-stems and trees that are only a few years old. As a tree in a solitary position, a distance of 4 to 5 meters to other plants should be maintained on all sides. Dig a large planting hole at the future location, which is about 1.5 times the size of the service tree root ball. For an optimal start to growth, add some predominantly organic slow-release fertilizer, such as ours, to the excavated soil Plantura organic universal fertilizer, and mix both. The nutrients contained in the fertilizer granules are released by soil organisms over a period of several months. Only then are they available for plant roots and there is no risk of nutrient leaching.
Now lift the serviceberry into the planting hole and make sure not to set the ball too deep. This is particularly important for grafted plants, where the grafting point must be well above the ground. Now fill up the planting hole with the soil-fertilizer mixture and solidify the substrate around the plant a little. If the plants are already larger, two stakes should be driven into the ground at right angles to the wind direction and the tree secured with a stable tree tie. The tree must be restricted in its movement so that young fine roots do not tear when the trunk is moved by the wind. In locations exposed to the wind, there is also a risk that the tree will grow crookedly. Finally, form a pouring rim out of soil and then water vigorously.

tip: The service tree is self-incompatible, so it cannot fertilize itself. A second serviceberry tree in the garden as a pollinator increases yields. However, the two trees must not be clones. It is best to choose two different varieties or two plants from different nurseries or wild stocks.

Summary: Plant serviceberry

• Soil: Dry to fresh, nutritious and calcareous, permeable
• Location: Sun or semi-shade
• Planting time: October – end of November
• Planting distance: 4 - 5 meters
• Tie a tree for stability

Care of the service tree: cutting, watering and more.

The service tree is easy to care for and requires little attention. Freshly planted trees can be watered to support them in critically dry summers. The service tree is amazingly drought tolerant, adult trees hardly ever need water.
Pruning is not absolutely necessary with serviceberries, but diseased and dead branches should be removed from time to time and the crown should be thinned out a little if necessary.

Occasionally attacking aphid populations, fruit tree bark beetle (Scolytus rugulosus) and some fruit tree moths such as the plum spider moth (Yponomeuta padella) the serviceberry. Much more dangerous, however, is the bite of voles on the roots of young trees - here a wire basket can help directly when planting. scab (Venturia inaequalis) and armillaria-Fungal infestation is one of the few service tree diseases and can cause the death of young or otherwise weakened trees.

Serviceberries are completely hardy, their leaves are only somewhat sensitive to early frosts in October. They can fall off prematurely - but this does not endanger the new shoots in the next year.

propagate serviceberry 

Serviceberries can be propagated generatively via seeds or vegetatively via root shoots or grafting.
Good results with seed propagation can be achieved by simply sowing the seeds in October after harvest and you leave it to nature to break the dormancy - although animals like to pick the seeds in winter eaten.

Like most native tree species, checkerberry seeds also have dormancy. The fruits contain numerous seeds that need a longer cold stimulus to germinate, i.e. they have to be stratified. A precise guide to the successful sowing of cold germination in every season can be found in our special article. Serviceberries propagated from seeds only flower and bear fruit after 15 to 20 years.

For asexual, vegetative propagation, from a certain age, the service tree forms many root shoots that can be cut off and transplanted. An alternative is the grafting of young checkerberry shoots on rootstocks hawthorn (Crataegus) or pears (pyurs). For this purpose, leafless scions are cut in late autumn or winter and grafted on in early spring between the end of February and mid-March. In our article "grafting apple tree“ we present various methods that are also suitable for the refinement of service berries. Refined service berries fruit immediately if the scion comes from an adult, i.e. already flowering service berry.

Harvesting and use of Sorbus torminalis

The edible fruits of the service tree can only be properly enjoyed after the first frost or after a longer storage period. Only then do the numerous fruits become soft and doughy and develop their applesauce-like aroma. The service berry harvest season therefore begins in October or November and ends in December. The fruits are cut off as a whole panicle and then plucked off individually.

The taste is reminiscent of the medlar (Mespilus germanica) and numerous specialties such as checkerberry jam, compote and juice can be made. Liqueur, French brandy "Eau d'Alizer" and the serviceberry schnapps, the "Adlitzbeerwasser", are among the most expensive fine spirits made from wild fruit, for which around 150 euros are paid per liter. Dried service berries are true delicacies because they have an almond and marzipan-like aroma.

Another relative of rowan and service tree that has become rare is the service tree (Sorbus domestica). In our profile you can find out everything about this valuable, rare fruit tree.