This one has gone wild.
Berries on the Prairies
Bush fruit for northern climates
We have a fair selection of fruit that can be grown on the prairie. While big fruit trees will not fit easily into the urban landscape, a bunch of the smaller fruiting shrubs will. Most berry bushes will produce a 1 to 10 liters of fruit per year, depending on size. Read up on the individual pages for specifics. Most berries are self fertile, but they will usually produce better if you have two different varieties.
The sequence here is in rough order popularity.
Raspberries I get two kinds right now, and am looking at getting a black raspberry, and possibly Mammoth, also from U of Saskatchewan. I've heard rumours of prairie hardy blackberry. Stay tuned.
Strawberries Strawberries are short lived plants. Plan on replacing every few years. See the strawberry page for ideas on how to avoid periodic repurchase.
Saskatoons Also called service berry. Sasks are good hedge plants as well as producing a bucket of berries in mid summer. We currently have 3 varieties.
Blueberries What's not to love. Tasty fruit, and brilliant fall colour. Blueberries require some soil work to prep. Start the year before.
Currants & Gooseberries Black currents, red currants, and captivator gooseberries. I have currents in my home garden, and can attest to you that they are productive. And black currant syrup on Sunday Swedish waffles.... Yum.
Haskaps Also known as honeyberry. These look like a long blueberry, and have some of the same anthocyanines (purple stuff) that blueberries have. Haskaps require two types to get decent production. We carry three kinds.
Others All are edible, or at least jamable, although I don’t think any of them tasty enough to allow you to gain weight overindulging. Flavour descriptions use words like “tart”, “astringent”, “survival food”, “insipid”, “bland”, “bird food” Some go on with claims "Heathy", "Good for you", "High in {insert current buzzword}. Many of them have potential for landscaping, and some for hedges.
- Sea Buckthorn
- High Bush Cranberry
- Bog Cranberry
- Gogi Berry (wolf berry)
- Nannyberry,
- Canada Buffaloberry
- Silver Buffaloberry,
- Pincherry
- Chokecherry.
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Sherwood's Forests is located about 75 km southwest of Edmonton, Alberta. Please refer to the map on our Contact page for directions.