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, Prairie Berries and Shadbush. Their Latin name is Amelanchier alnifolia. And we’ve got lots of great information about these fruit bearing bushes right here!

Want more articles about gardening? Check out all of our Food Gardening posts here.

No matter what you call them, here is everything to know about growing your own Saskatoon berries! 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.

Saskatoon berries have long been considered an important food source by early pioneers throughout the central United States all the way north to the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

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.
• In early Spring, when the leaves of these small trees first come out, they are edible!

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!

Best Tips for Pruning Saskatoon Bushes

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 about how to prune bushes and shrubs here

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 about Propagating 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 a wide variety of ways to use them including, Saskatoon berry tart, pie recipes, and Saskatoon sauce to name a few clever ways for including Saskatoon berries in your favorite recipes. 

Combine Saskatoons with apples, raspberries or strawberries to make a Bumbleberry crisp, muffins or use in pies or jam!

You can make juice too – then use the leftover fruit pulp to make Saskatoon jellies or syrups!

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

Got Canada Thistle weed? Here’s how to get rid of it!

Plant and grow Haskap Berries – the earliest bearing berries of the season.

Haskap berries are becoming a more well known berry to grow in the family garden. This fruiting shrub is quite perfect for northern gardens. I wanted to share some tips to help you grow the best haskap berries possible.

Haskap berries are becoming more popular to grow in the United States and all over North America, but they have been well-known and grown in Canada for decades. They’re the perfect fruiting bush to plant in your home garden, as they’re naturally disease and pest resistant.

Other names for these delicious berries are honeyberry and edible blue honeysuckle. Some people grow these berries on a large scale and use them for commercial sales. They would be a great option for farm sales or selling at the farmers markets.

How to Grow Haskap Berries

Here are some helpful tips and tricks to grow haskap berries at home. These delicious berries are best used for fresh eating, smoothies, adding to a dish of ice cream, sauces, making juices and even wine! It’s a bonus that they store well in the freezer to use for later baking into loafs, muffins, ice creams, smoothies, or fruit crisps.

They taste like a blueberry, but…not quite. 

General Tips for Growing Haskap Plants

• You need to plant two different varieties for pollination.
• Haskap cultivars are fast growing and can reach 8 feet in height. You will find the plant needs some pruning after a couple of years. For Haskap berry pruning tips, here’s an article on pruning shrubs and fruit trees.
• As with any garden plant, weeds will compete for nutrients and water and should be managed accordingly.
• The plants may produce a handful or two of fruit in the second year.
• You’ll want to use well aged manure (or compost) once per year – apply a topdressing at the base of the plant in spring.
• You can also use a balanced organic fertilizer. Apply it in early spring or fall to ensure your fruiting shrubs continue to grow healthy.
• Haskap shrubs a pretty plant with lovely foliage! Find a way to incorporate them into your flower gardens.
• Birds are attracted to the berries, so some garden netting can help protect your crop.

Where do Haskap Berry Plants Grow?

The Haskap berry growing zone is wide – they can bloom in Zones 2 – 9. These native shrubs can be found in northern boreal forests in Canada, Asia, Japan and throughout North America and Europe.

But, they do their very best in a climate where there is a cold winter. Many shrubs do best where there is a true real cold season; it’s part of the dormancy cycle.

If these bushes can’t be found in the wild near you, that’s ok! You can buy small shrubs to plant in your own garden or front yard. The University of Saskatchewan started a breeding program and you can purchase plants through them.

We are in Zone 3 and friends here have many Haskap bushes growing in their garden. At times, we get winter temperatures of -30C and these plants are that cold hardy.

I am finding that these Haskap plants are hardier than blueberry plants – I have tried several times to grow blueberries here and finally gave up. 

When and Where to Plant Haskap Berries

It’s best to plant your haskap plants in a somewhat sheltered area, where they are protected from heavy wind. These blue berries will need full to partial sunlight for maximum harvest. They very much prefer full sun, so don’t be afraid to put them right out in the open.

Include them planted throughout a large flowerbed; they will do great planted at the back with shorter shrubs and flowers in front of them.

Plant your berry bushes in a well prepared bed that includes plenty of well aged compost or manure. Add lots of compost to the hole you dig. You’ll need to have a well-drained but nutrient-rich soil for your bushes.

They do best growing in a soil that has a pH of 5 -8.5. Think about the type of soil blueberry plants like – it is the same for these haskap berries. When in doubt, test your soil using one of these soil test kits.

Plant them 4 – 6 feet apart and let your shrub just settle in the first year. Make sure to water the hole before planting and water again after filling in the hole. Be sure to water regularly for the first while. Consistent watering will go a long ways to helping your plants get established.

Pollination and Flowering

Be sure to plant two varieties of haskap berries as this is a plant that needs cross pollination in order to set fruit. Just ask at the nursery and they will be able to help.

It’s recommended that you plant the two varieties of haskap shrubs in close range to each other to maximize your chances of an ample harvest. Our three shrubs are planted about 5 feet away from each other.

This is a good distance as it takes into account the size of the Haskap plant when it is full grown.

Flowering happens in early spring (mid April or so in our gardening zone); it’s not long till we see the prettiest small yellow flowers. The blooms hang in clusters. And not long after that, then we see the bees!

The honey bee loves Haskap berry bushes and some afternoons our bushes are loaded with bees.

Quite a few of the delicate flowers hide right underneath the leaves, which of course is right where we will be picking berries from soon. We ended up harvesting a handful of berries for each of us to enjoy.

Not bad for the second year and it will be a much better berry harvest next year.

Harvesting Haskap Berries

How long before haskap berry plants produce berries?

When it comes to starting your haskap berry plants, you need to remember that you won’t reap a harvest for about 3 years. That’s all the more reason to be sure and get some planted as soon as you possibly can, so you can maximize yields.

You may be able to find three year old plants at the nursery – you will pay a bit more but you will enjoy the Haskap berries sooner.

Within a few years, the fruit production from 4 plants should enable you to have lots to eat fresh and even some for storing in the freezer.

Within 5-7 years your haskap berry plants will have reached maturity so that you can enjoy a plentiful harvest year after year.

Setting and Ripening Fruit

The berry shrubs tend to grow fruit early in the spring. Generally speaking, you’ll love having a berry harvest two weeks earlier than most other fruits. These berries are one of the first ready to pick in mid to late June.

You’ll notice that your haskap berries look ripe about 1-2 weeks before you can eat them. Just try one to see if the berries are ready. They will be nice and plump when they are ready to be picked.

Berries will ripen at different times so you should be able to get 3 or perhaps 4 pickings before they are all off the bush.

You’ll be able to harvest berries for 2-3 weeks out of the year, and many years the branches will be loaded with berries.

After picking the berries, the shrubs are a beautiful bush in your yard for the rest of the year. You can plant them at the back of your flower bed if you are short on planting space.

What do Haskap berries taste like?

Well, it’s a bit hard to describe. They are delicious that’s for sure. 

They taste like a blueberry, but with blackberry and raspberry in there too. The berries are tart, kind of sour, yet sweet at the same time. They are sweeter than Saskatoon berries when eaten right off the bush.

Maybe it’s one of those berries you just have to taste – but I can tell you they are delicious. And they are fantastic for baking with.

Haskap berries are also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants. And as a fun fact, the word “haskap” is a Japanese word that translates roughly to ‘berry of long life and good vision.’ So there are lots of healthy benefits!

Are Haskap Berries Good for You?

They are like a superfruit! They are loaded with antioxidants, full of potassium and Vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals.

Can You Freeze Haskap Berries?

Yes, you can freeze Haskap berries – it’s very easy to do. Just spread washed and well drained berries onto a cookie sheet and make sure they are not touching each other.

Pop them in the freezer for a day or two. Then remove and use a spatula to loosen them from the cookie sheet. Transfer berries into a airtight container and return to the freezer.

As you need them, just shake out what you need and return the container or freezer bag to the freezer. Be sure to remove all the air out of the bag before returning to the freezer.

Where Can I Buy Haskap Plants?

I usually purchase my shrubs through T & T in Manitoba, as everything they sell can be grown in my garden zone (Zone 3). They have a set of 2 plants available: 

Boreal Beauty

Boreal Blizzard

Remember, you need to buy two varieties!

Haskap Berry Recipes

We especially love mixing Haskap berries with Rhubarb and making a fruit crisp. It’s healthier if we reduce the amount of sugar and we use whole wheat flour, plus of course lots of oats. 

Fruit crisp makes for a fast easy breakfast or an afternoon snack.

We have also used our Honeyberries to include in our home made Bumbleberry wine – we find Haskap berries, Raspberries, Blueberries and Rhubarb together make a delicious red wine.

Here’s a recipe for Haskap wine if you would like to make some.

Enjoy this sweet berry in a variety of recipes!

Read More About Gardening

• Want to know the ONE trick to growing huge, juicy strawberries?
• Want to learn how to make Rhubarb wine? 
• Looking for a super easy no cook Strawberry Jam? Here’s our recipe!
• Here’s how we make Saskatoon berry wine – mix with other berries if you like.

published December 2020; latest update Nov 2022