Native Fruit Trees in New York.
Planting native fruit trees is one of the best parts of this work. Shown in the photo is a line of Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) trees we planted for an upstate New York homeowner. Straightaway, the fruit tree site location is a half mile from a major wildlife preserve. The Red Chokeberry has a special habitat niche in the entire NYS region. Unquestionably, it actually grows well in sandy soil. The Saratoga and Clifton Park regions have abundant sandy conditions. The Chokeberries are eaten by the birds in the fall and winter. They are edible for humans, too.
Aronia berries are considered a superfruit. Native fruit trees in New York are a trend that keeps heating up. Not only are they good for the environment, but also your body’s health as well.
Correspondingly, the Aronia family also has a Black Chokeberry member. Aronia melanocarpa is more tolerant of wet feet than Aronia arbutifolia. Chokeberries are very sour. Certainly, learning to love them takes time. The benefits are worth it. A person can always add a little organic sugar as they acclimate to the new taste.
Permaculture and Invasive Species.
Our permaculture friends often advocate for growing introduced edible plants and trees. However, the trajectory of an introduced plant as it moves from “exciting experiment” to “pervasive invasive” is mysterious. It can take a century. Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) was an innocuous introduced garden plant in American colonists’ gardens for approximately eighty years before becoming a problem. Escaping and devastating our wild lands seemed to occur overnight.
Advocating for native edible shrubs.
The people who grew the invasive Honeysuckle saw it as a statement plant that indicated how well traveled and sophisticated they were. Now the federal government spends trillions annually on invasive mitigation, and Lonicera japonica is one of the worst invasives. Why not exhaust all your native options, permaculture friends? How many Aronias have you grown? The Red? The Black? These beautiful native fruit trees are just waiting to be better known. They will restore the habitat and bring food security to our neighborhoods! Why not go native?
