Know anything about serviceberry or spice bush?
- Thread starter timnick
- Start date
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Serviceberry will indeed get 25 feet tall, but it will be more of a small tree than a shrub. That's the way they grow in shade. In sun you can train them to be more bushy, but they still don't make great screening plants. Hazelnut will grow more bushy in the shade than serviceberry, but they are really slow growing.
Spacing depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Most shrubs can be set very close 3-5 foot and just grow together and form a hedge. Some make decent hedges and some don't. The problem is that most things which grow well in shade (privet, bush honeysuckle, etc) are things you don't want around.
Good luck....
Spacing depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Most shrubs can be set very close 3-5 foot and just grow together and form a hedge. Some make decent hedges and some don't. The problem is that most things which grow well in shade (privet, bush honeysuckle, etc) are things you don't want around.
Good luck....
Fish
Well-Known Member
Spicebush grows very well in dappled shade. I had a love affair with this shrub when i was planting the property. I just liked it. The berries are great fall bird food, and it grows in places other shrubs dont....... seasonably wet and shaded areas. It doesnt like dry ground such as hillsides.
Little Blue property is loaded with spicebush in the well drained bottoms. Ive thinned some of them over the years where they formed a monoculture. Deer dont eat them like other shrubs. And they add valuable cover to my bottoms. Ive heard foresters complain about them at times being somewhat invasive. I killed probably 200 seedlings growing under one of my spicebush shrubs this summer (along my driveway).
But i also had as many silky dogwoods germinate and grow in my driveway.
Little Blue property is loaded with spicebush in the well drained bottoms. Ive thinned some of them over the years where they formed a monoculture. Deer dont eat them like other shrubs. And they add valuable cover to my bottoms. Ive heard foresters complain about them at times being somewhat invasive. I killed probably 200 seedlings growing under one of my spicebush shrubs this summer (along my driveway).
But i also had as many silky dogwoods germinate and grow in my driveway.
Chainsaw
Well-Known Member
This is a good point Fish. Junk shrubs that deer won't eat that are invasive are usually undesirable but they can be helpful as well. I find that here with buck thorn; They are junk trees and block good stuff from growing but they do provide cover in some instances. Uncontrolled they are a deal breaker but kept in control they can be an asset. I wouldn't say that about bush honeysuckle though but have found the late season cover of buck thorn to work in my favor on some parts of my property.
