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Growing Saskatoon Berries – all you need to know
about growing this healthy superfood in your backyard!
Saskatoon bushes are known by other names such as Serviceberry bushes, Juneberry, and Shadbush. Their Latin name is Amelanchier alnifolia.
No matter what you call them, here is everything to know about growing your own! Consider planting a few bushes and start growing your own berries, right in the backyard.
These bushes grow wild, but you can also buy them at garden nurseries!
Where do Saskatoon Bushes Grow in the wild?
Saskatoon bushes grow throughout North America. They are native to Canada, where these bushes grow wild throughout British Columbia, through the Canadian prairies and all the way east to Ontario. In the United States, they grow from Alaska to Maine and many other states.
There are also some commercial growers, so if you don’t have them growing in your part of the country, you can find Saskatoon bushes for sale through garden nurseries. In Canada look to T & T Seeds, in Manitoba.
Interesting Things to know about Saskatoon Berry Bushes:
The neat thing about Saskatoon bushes is that they don’t require a second bush to grow berries, so if you only have room for one, that’s not a problem.
Having more than one bush will help increase your berry harvest, however.
The berries form on the previous years wood – and any older wood. New shoots won’t be bearing fruit until next year.
These berry bushes can be susceptible to wind damage, so be sure to protect your Saskatoons from any high winds.
Health Benefits of Saskatoon Berry
Saskatoon berries are very healthy! They are like a superfood, full of antioxidants, especially anthocyanins and flavonols. Full of Vitamin C, calcium and manganese, plus they are rich in fiber, potassium, magnesium, iron and other nutrients.
How to Plant a Saskatoon Berry Bush
Be sure to prepare the ground before planting. Weeding it well to get rid of any grass and then placing mulch down to block weed growth is important!
Dig your hole (wide AND deep) and include a good amount of compost in the planting hole. The best conditions for growing a Saskatoon berry bush are well drained soil with plenty of organic compost mixed well together. Remember, you only get one chance to provide soil for the plant roots – make it count!
Plant each bush about 8-10 feet apart; remember they will become full grown bushes!
Can I Plant Saskatoon Bushes as a Hedge?
This is a great idea and yes you can grow a beautiful living hedge using Saskatoon bushes. If you want to create a hedge, plant 5 feet apart and they will grow together over a few years.
An edible hedge row is a fantastic way of creating privacy, while growing your own fruit! Saskatoon bushes also provide food for the bees, also so important.
Best Practicing for Fertilizing Saskatoons?
You don’t need to add specialized fertilizer to the planting hole if you are adding good quality compost – the compost will have plenty of nutrients to get off to a good start.
The bushes just need the planting area to be properly prepared with the removal of weeds and mulch to keep weed growth down before placing your new bush.
You can add top dressings of good quality compost around the base of your bushes. If you like, you can fertilize by sprinkling it around the base. Fertilize your bushes between flowering time and harvest for the best results.
Growing Saskatoon Berries in Containers
Some people opt to plant Saskatoon berries in containers. The downside to planting berry bushes in containers is that your harvest will be much smaller than that of the Saskatoon bushes you plant in the ground.
Your Saskatoon berries will need large deep containers to handle the roots and the growth of the bush.
Since a container with a berry bush in it will be heavy, you may want to have a strong plant dolly underneath the pot so you can easily move the container. You could place the container where you plan to keep it until you are ready to transplant the Saskatoon bush outside.
Transplanting a Saskatoon Bush
You can successfully transplant one of these bushes, although you will need to be careful. Smaller bushes have a much better chance of surviving than larger Saskatoon bushes.
The best time to transplant a Saskatoon bush is during the fall season. This is when the rain will happen more frequently allowing the bush to take hold properly at the new location.
The soil and the water should be the top priorities to a successful transplant of a Saskatoon bush!
Here’s an article with all the information on transplanting a Saskatoon berry bush –
plus tips for moving shrubs that you may not have thought of!
Now that you have the ins and outs of fertilizing, transplanting, and handling the growth of your berry bush, it’s time to discuss pruning your Saskatoon bushes.
When to Prune Saskatoon Bushes?
Pruning is what helps your berries grow without crowding, and keeps the bush healthy during the growing process. You’ll need to prune your bushes in the early spring season right before new growth starts.
During the first three years after planting your Saskatoon bushes, you’ll prune only to remove diseased or dead stems. Don’t forget to remove stems that are healthy but drooping too low to the ground. You’ll use sharp pruning scissors to cut damaged or droopy stems.
If you don’t have sharp pruning scissors, you can use long-handled loppers but you need to be sure you’re taking a clean cut.
You can find good pruning information reading abouthow to prune bushes and shrubshere
Other Saskatoon Berry Bush Facts:
How Fast Do Saskatoon Bushes Grow?
You can aim to get your first berries from your Saskatoon bush within the first two years. It will be a small harvest, maybe a handful if you are fortunate. Just wait another year, though!
Peak performance for your Saskatoon bush will be when your bush is 3 or 4 years old. From that point on, you should be able to harvest a good supply of berries to use in your favorite Saskatoon berry recipes. Plus, you’ll have extra berries to put in the freezer!
How Tall Do Saskatoon Bushes Grow?
These types of berry bushes can grow anywhere from 6 feet to 30 feet tall. One nice feature is that the limbs are thin and pliable, so it is easy to pull down a tall limb closer to the ground, so you can pick the fruit!
This doesn’t seem to hurt the wild Saskatoon bushes here at all when we do this.
Propagating a Saskatoon Bush
Growing your Saskatoon bush from another bush is similar to growing any other shrub from cuttings. You’ll want to prune the tips, gather the cuttings and then place them in a small nursery bed area that’s fertilized.
Here’s an article showing everything you need to know aboutPropagating Shrub Cuttings– the example used here is Laurel (we grew our own hedge), but it works exactly the same for growing cuttings of Saskatoon berry bushes.
Watch the cuttings grow into new bushes, and the transplant the new growth Saskatoon bushes into your garden where you plan to keep the bushes for year-after-year harvest.
All About Saskatoon Berries
Before I leave you today with this information, I wanted to share more details about the actual Saskatoon berries themselves. As stated earlier, within the third or fourth year of planting your berry bushes, they’ll be at peak performance.
When do you Pick Saskatoon Berries?
When Saskatoon berries are ready for picking really depends on where you live. Usually, the berries ripen for late June or early July. Here in our Zone 3 area, Saskatoon berries are usually ready for mid to late July and into early August.
What do Saskatoon Berries taste like?
Saskatoon fruits are juicy and sweet. These berries are defined as being sweet but more in an earthy-like flavor. Some have said the berries have an almond undertone to their sweetness.
Some people prefer cooked berries instead of the fresh fruit – and Saskatoon berries are perfect for using in baking, making jam and even wine.
Difference Between Saskatoons and Blueberries
The biggest difference between Saskatoons and blueberries is that Saskatoons berries are packed with more nutrients than blueberries and other berries combined. They have more iron, antioxidants, protein, and potassium than other berries you can grow on your homestead.
These benefits make growing Saskatoon berries pretty much a no brainer.
What can I make with the berries from my Saskatoon bushes?
You can make anything that you’d typically make with blueberries using your fresh harvest of Saskatoon berries. There are Saskatoon berry tart recipes, pie recipes, and Saskatoon sauce to name a few clever ways for including Saskatoon berries in your favorite recipes.
Combine Saskatoons with raspberries or strawberries to make a Bumbleberry crisp or jam!
You can make juice too – then use the leftover fruit pulp to make Saskatoon Jelly!
We even make home made Saskatoon Berry Wine – click over to learn more!
Bottom Line: Growing Saskatoon Berries is a fantastic way to grow your own healthy super fruit!
Read more about:
Learn how to grow your own hedge – everything you need to know
Learn how to grow Haskap Berries – another superfood that is easy to grow
How to transplant a Saskatoon Berry Bush
Everything to know about cleaning and sharpening pruning shears
Dig out young suckers with as many fine roots as possible.Cut back tops to a height of 5 cm, plant, and keep them well watered. The first (small) crop may be expected in about four years from planting. Peak production will take another two or three years, if plants develop well.
You'll need to prune your bushes in the early spring season right before new growth starts. During the first three years after planting your Saskatoon bushes, you'll prune only to remove diseased or dead stems. Don't forget to remove stems that are healthy but drooping too low to the ground.
In practice, pruning saskatoons is quite similar to pruning blueberries or currants. Pruning is usually done in early spring before new growth starts. For the first three years after planting, prune only to remove dead, damaged, or diseased stems.Remove stems that droop close to the ground at the same time.
Saskatoons don't like wet feet, so drainage is important. The ideal location is a gentle slope with full sun and good air circulation and water drainage.
Young plants are generally planted with 12-18 feet between rows and 3 feet between plants (the latter for mechanical harvesting). Roots need at least 24 inches of depth. The bushes are shade tolerant, though yields may increase with greater sunlight.
Water as needed to keep the soil moist but never soggy. It's best to water at the base of the shrub and avoid sprinklers, as damp foliage makes the shrub more susceptible to fungal diseases. Keep weeds in check as Saskatoon shrubs don't compete well. Mulch the shrub to control weeds and keep the soil evenly moist.
Saskatoons can be propagated from seed, divisions, root cuttings, softwood cuttings, and cuttings from etiolated shoots (Nelson 1987). In vitro propagation of 'Northline', 'Pembina', 'Smoky', and 'Thiessen' saskatoon berries has been reported (Harris 1980; Pruski et al. 1990).
Saskatoon berry plants are 1 to 5 m tall (3 - 16 ft.) shrubs with alternately arranged buds and leaves. Flowers and fruit form in clusters on the branches. Plants may be 3 to 6 m (10 - 20 ft.)
Saskatoons are self-fertile and do not require cross-pollination from a different cultivar for fruit production. The berries ripen six to eight weeks after flowering, in late July.
You guessed – it is the Saskatoon! Since this bush grows mostly in thickets, it provides a good wildlife habitat and cover for mammals, and nesting birds. Deer, elk and moose enjoy the tips of the branches and leaves, while grouse eat the buds in winter.
Saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is a deciduous native shrub that grows from western Ontario to British Columbia and the Yukon. The city of Saskatoon takes its name from a Cree word for the sweet, fleshy fruits, which were of prime importance to Aboriginal people and early settlers.
Saskatoon berry seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides and must be removed, as they can cause gastrointestinal issues in dogs. The seeds are also a choking hazard for dogs.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. The edible fruit is similar in size and shape to a blueberry, but tastes like a blueberry with an injection of almond extract.
Saskatoon is not known as the city of bridges for nothing. Saskatoon is Canada's “city of bridges,” thanks to the seven bridges that span the city, all of which cross the South Saskatchewan River. In total, the city boasts seven bridges, 47 overpasses, 21 pedestrian crossings, and 19.2 kilometres of sound-proof walls.
Trim the stem to just below where the bottom most leaf meets the stem. On each of the leaves on the stem, cut off half of the leaf. Put the end to be rooted into a small pot of damp soiless mix. Wrap the whole pot and cutting in a plastic bag.
The saskatoon is native to the Canadian Prairies, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Alaska, British Columbia and the northwestern and north central United States. The saskatoon is hardy to -50º to -60º C. Flowering occurs in early May to early June.
When controlling entomosporium leaf and berry spot and saskatoon-juniper rust, apply Funginex DC between flower bud break and white tip stage. The fungicide is limited to one application a year because it has a 60 day pre-harvest interval. Kumulus DF is recommended only for entomosporium leaf and berry spot.
Other names: Serviceberry, Juneberry, Amelanchier (French) and Shadbush. The saskatoon shrub is in the rose family (Rosaceae): the same family as apples, plums, and cherries (U of A: Plantwatch).
Rich with vitamins (riboflavin, vitamin A and C, folate, biotin), minerals (iron, manganese, potassium), phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and hydroxycinnamic acids, saskatoon berries are great for maintaining or improving your health, reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease, fighting cancer, and more!
Size Notes: Height 4-15 feet, spread 6-8 feet. Leaf: Green in summer, yellow to reddish in the fall. Fruit: Blue or purplish. to 1/4 inch across. Size Class: 3-6 ft. , 6-12 ft. , 12-36 ft.
In the scientific naming system, saskatoons are Amelanchier alnifolia (also called juneberries or serviceberrries in the US), while huckleberries are a variety of species in the genera Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.
The Saskatoon berry is rich in vitamins and antioxidants, and higher in fibre and protein than most fruits because the seeds are edible. The fruit is sweet, with dense, juicy flesh and excellent fresh, frozen, or dried. Use it in any recipe that calls for blueberries.
The delicious berries are known as juneberries in some U.S. states. The Saskatoon berry gets a name change when it crosses the border into some U.S. states. In Michigan and Minnesota, the delicious berry is known as the juneberry, which is what the variety found in the northeast U.S. is called.
A drab autumn-plumaged Western Tanager in a Saskatoon bush. Photo by C. Siddle. The Western Tanager is a common fruit-eater, coming out of the forest like the Swainson's Thrush to reap the benefit of the berry bushes.
Individual robins often remain in the north since they feed on fruits in winter. Regina and Saskatoon are pretty extremely north for overwintering robins, but with climate change, we expect to see this sort of thing more and more often. Q: The Robins' scientific name is Turdus migratorius.
Saskatoons contain cyanogenic glycosides (mostly in the seeds), which can become cyanide. Saskatoons have this in common with a variety of other popular fruits such as apples, cherries, apricots, peaches and plums, as well as lima beans, spinach, soy, barley, flaxseed, cassava, bamboo shoots and almonds.
Saskatoon berries (Amelanchier alnifolia) look much like blueberries, though they are more closely related to the apple family. Many would describe the taste of Saskatoon Berry as having a sweet, nutty almond flavour. They are also high in Fiber, Protein and Antioxidants.
Pick out any small stems or unripe berries. Dump the clean berries into a colander and rinse with water. That's it. Store them in freezer bags or make them into beautiful jams, pies, and more!
Saskatoon berries have an excellent nutritional high value being considered as the natural intake of manganese, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, copper and carotene. This single fruit is magical for your overall health as this Saskatoon berry provide you calcium better than red meats, vegetables, and cereals.
There are a wide variety of fruit species grown in Saskatchewan. Native fruits like Saskatoon berry, chokecherry, pincherry, highbush cranberry, buffalo currant, buffalo berry, and lingonberry have all been selected from wild stands, were professionally propagated, and are grown commercially.
The fruit is used in soups, stews, meat dishes, pemmican and dried cakes. Saskatoon berry juice is used to cure stomach ailments, and is a mild laxative. The juice is also used to make eye drops and eardrops. Arrows and pipes can be made from the stems of the saskatoon berry.
Ripe berries are a deep blue-purplish colour and are slightly smaller than blueberries. They can be eaten raw or cooked. Some people say they have a slight almond-like flavour. Personally, I find them sweet, "wild," and earthy tasting.
The berries have a sweet, earthy flavor with a rich almond/marzipan undertone due to the flavor of the seeds. They are rich in iron and vitamin C with antioxidant properties comparable to blueberries.
Saskatoons can be propagated from seed, divisions, root cuttings, softwood cuttings, and cuttings from etiolated shoots (Nelson 1987). In vitro propagation of 'Northline', 'Pembina', 'Smoky', and 'Thiessen' saskatoon berries has been reported (Harris 1980; Pruski et al. 1990).
You guessed – it is the Saskatoon! Since this bush grows mostly in thickets, it provides a good wildlife habitat and cover for mammals, and nesting birds. Deer, elk and moose enjoy the tips of the branches and leaves, while grouse eat the buds in winter.
The best time to transplant serviceberries is in the winter while the plants are dormant. This gives the trees time to adjust to the new location before they start blooming in the early spring.
Saskatoons are self-fertile and do not require cross-pollination from a different cultivar for fruit production. The berries ripen six to eight weeks after flowering, in late July.
Saskatoon berry plants are 1 to 5 m tall (3 - 16 ft.) shrubs with alternately arranged buds and leaves. Flowers and fruit form in clusters on the branches. Plants may be 3 to 6 m (10 - 20 ft.)
Saskatoon berry seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides and must be removed, as they can cause gastrointestinal issues in dogs. The seeds are also a choking hazard for dogs.
Saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is a deciduous native shrub that grows from western Ontario to British Columbia and the Yukon. The city of Saskatoon takes its name from a Cree word for the sweet, fleshy fruits, which were of prime importance to Aboriginal people and early settlers.
In the scientific naming system, saskatoons are Amelanchier alnifolia (also called juneberries or serviceberrries in the US), while huckleberries are a variety of species in the genera Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.
A drab autumn-plumaged Western Tanager in a Saskatoon bush. Photo by C. Siddle. The Western Tanager is a common fruit-eater, coming out of the forest like the Swainson's Thrush to reap the benefit of the berry bushes.
Individual robins often remain in the north since they feed on fruits in winter. Regina and Saskatoon are pretty extremely north for overwintering robins, but with climate change, we expect to see this sort of thing more and more often. Q: The Robins' scientific name is Turdus migratorius.
Serviceberries are not overly sensitive to soil type but prefer a pH of 6.0 to 7.8. They also perform best in soil that is lighter and not loaded with clay, as this prevents adequate drainage.
Without regular pruning to maintain size and shape, downy serviceberry can grow up to 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Never prune while the plant is in bloom. You can prune in late winter before buds set or in summer after leaves mature, but autumn is best because the trees lose very little sap at this time of year.
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