Plant This Easy-Growing Fruit Tree And Watch Your Yard Come To Life

Who doesn't want a vibrant yard full of delicious fruit trees or shrubs and all the adorable wildlife that comes with it? Unfortunately, some fruit trees and berry shrubs can be surprisingly difficult to grow and care for. Luckily, this isn't the case for all fruits and berries. The juneberry (Amelanchier spp.) is not only relatively easy to grow, but also attracts pollinators and other wildlife to your yard and provides you with delicious berries.

Native to many parts of the northern hemisphere including North America, juneberries — also sometimes called serviceberries – are able to thrive in areas where many other fruit trees and berry bushes can't. This is thanks to juneberry trees' tolerance for a range of soil textures and pHs. If you keep a lookout, you may even be able to identify some serviceberries in the wild. They are also a great way to encourage butterflies to visit, as they are host plants for many kinds of caterpillars. Like many kinds of berry trees, juneberries are such a hit with birds that you may struggle to get them to leave any of the berries for you.

Hardy in zones 4 through 9, juneberries are so easy to grow in part because they aren't overly picky about their growing conditions. Unlike many berry shrubs or trees, which are often acid-loving plants, juneberries can thrive in neutral or acidic soil. They can also tolerate everything from sandy to clay-heavy soil. They're equally laid back about their lighting, able to grow in everything from full sun to deep shade. 

In addition to the beauty of the butterflies, bees, and birds that juneberries attract, the trees themselves are also quite stunning. In early spring they are often completely covered in beautifully scented white flowers. While the flowers don't last long, they are soon replaced by the brightly colored and delicious berries. Even if you have a relatively small yard, you can likely find a spot for a juneberry tree. While they grow to about 20 feet on average, there is a dwarf juneberry (Amelanchier spicata) available which only reaches about 5 feet in height.