Hawthorns are particularly popular for their crimson, dense umbel flowers. However, it is a rare phenomenon that fruits form from it, as with hawthorn. In this article you can read how fruiting can be stimulated and what you can do with the berries.

Hawthorn berries are edible

Red joy of flowers at the expense of fruits

The cultivar 'Paul's Scarlet' of the two-pronged hawthorn, botanically Crataegus laevigata, is regarded as the true hawthorn. In general, however, all red-flowering variants of the hawthorn, including the intervening one, are referred to as hawthorns. There are varieties with simple umbel flowers as well as those with rose-like, filled umbels.

Breeding has brought us an attractive flower variant of the native thorn tree. However, it comes at the expense of fruit yield as most of the stamens have been replaced by petals. A hawthorn therefore rarely produces fruit, and if it does, then only sparingly.

So if you don't want to do without the crimson flowers in your hedge or on the solitary ornamental shrub, or you don't want to do without decorative and usable fruit, it's not easy. Nevertheless, you can help a little here and there with the fruit formation.

How to lure out hawthorn fruit

In order to get a hawthorn to fruit, first of all, good all-round care is advantageous. If the shrub is healthy and vigorous, it also has more energy for flowering and thus fruit formation. The basic requirements should therefore be met as extensively as possible: First of all, this includes a sunny location and calcareous, loamy, fresh soil.

In order to increase the abundance of flowers and thus the chance of fruiting, cut back the hawthorn immediately after flowering, before it forms new blossoms. This way you keep it young without affecting next year's flowering yield.

A bit of luck is of course required for fruit formation. But through long-term ecological and species-promoting garden management, you can indirectly contribute to fruit formation. Make sure that your oasis has a diverse range of plants that are interesting for pollinating insects. This not only increases the chance that your hawthorn will also be fertilized - its flowers are extremely popular with bees - but also contributes to biodiversity in general.

To remember:

  • Ensure good growing conditions
  • Cut back early and every year
  • Attract pollinating insects through species-rich garden management

And what to do with the hawthorn fruits?

When fruit has formed, you can be thankful. On the one hand, the brick-red chokeberries are a beautiful autumn decoration, on the other hand they are also suitable for the kitchen. A lot of yield is not to be expected, but with hawthorn berries or other fruit you can conjure up tasty and vitamin-rich jams, liqueurs or syrups from the mealy, sweet and sour fruits.

Category:

Vegetable garden