Wild service tree

Wild service tree: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Tree of 10–20 m with a rounded to broad crown about 10 m across.

Leaves

Alternate, 6–12 cm, with 3–5 pairs of sharp, toothed lobes; the lowest pair is the most deeply cut and spreads outwards. Glossy dark green; autumn colour red to purple.

Bark

Grey; on older trees it flakes off in small square scales, like a pear tree.

Flowers

Clusters of white flowers in May–June.

Fruit

Egg-shaped fruits 1–1.5 cm long, red at first, brown with pale speckles when ripe; edible once bletted.

Difference from field maple

Field maple has opposite leaves with rounded lobes, and winged fruits.

Difference from Swedish whitebeam

Swedish whitebeam has a leaf lobed only in the lower half, with a grey-felted underside, and orange-red berries.

Flowering: May–June · Harvest and fruit: September–October · Pruning: November–March

Identify by feature: Lobed leaves (like an oak) · Red autumn colour · Peeling bark

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Field maple Acer campestre: opposite leaf with rounded lobes, and winged fruits. Difference from field maple
• Swedish whitebeam Sorbus intermedia: leaf lobed only in the lower half, with a grey-felted underside, and orange-red berries. Difference from Swedish whitebeam

Why grow it?

• A glorious red to purple autumn colour.
• Flowers for insects, fruits for thrushes and winter food for mammals.
• A rare native tree that you see in few gardens.
• One of the most expensive timbers in Europe, growing in your own garden.

Wild service tree: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; it flowers and colours best in sun.
• Chalky, well-drained soil, such as loam or marl; on acid sandy soil it is out of place.
• A warm, sheltered spot.
• Allow for 10–20 m in height and a crown of about 10 m: for a large garden, a park or a hedgerow. It grows slowly, so it takes years to reach that size.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

15 m tall, 10 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Field maple: A native tree or hedge that, like the wild service tree, likes chalky soil, with yellow autumn colour beside the red.
• Wayfaring-tree: A shrub of warm, chalky woodland edges, with white flower heads and red then black berries.
• Spindle: Also turns red in autumn and bears pink fruits with orange seeds.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Tolerate the shade under this tree: oregon grape, rhododendron, oleaster, japanese skimmia, garden privet, camellia, laurustinus, box-leaved honeysuckle

Best kept away from

• Fruit trees that can catch fireblight from this plant: apple, pear, nashi pear

Wild service tree: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March when the ground isn’t frozen.
2. Choose a young tree: it establishes best.
3. Protect the trunk from rabbits and deer: they love to nibble the bark and young shoots.
4. Mix a little compost into the planting soil, put in a stake, and water after planting and during dry spells in the first summers.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first two or three summers.

Feeding

Not needed; a layer of compost around the base is enough.

Browsing protection

Leave the tree guard in place until the bark is thick enough.

Fruits

Pick them in autumn and let them blet indoors, or leave them on the tree for the birds.

Tip: Looking for a tree with the autumn colour of a red oak, but native? Plant a wild service tree on chalky soil: the same red glow, with flowers for insects and fruits for birds.

Wild service tree: when to prune it?

Pruning months: November–March.

When: Dead, diseased and broken branches can be removed at any time of year. If pruning is needed, do it during winter dormancy (November–March).

How:

• Little pruning needed; leave the natural crown.
• If needed, give a young tree a single leader and remove crossing branches or double leaders.

Caution: Prune little and early rather than hard and late: large pruning wounds heal slowly.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Sowing

In autumn, take the seeds from bletted fruits and sow them straight away outdoors in a seed tray; they are slow to germinate, often only in the second spring.

Wild service tree: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• In winter you can recognise it by its glossy green, globular buds and by the bark that flakes off in small square scales on older trees.

Diseases and pests

• Browsing by deer and rabbits: Young wild service trees are a favourite: protect the trunk and shoots until the tree is big enough.
• Fire blight: Like many members of the rose family it can carry fire blight: twigs wilt and turn black as if scorched. Cut them out well into healthy wood and disinfect your secateurs.
• Languishing on wet or acid soil: Yellow leaves and little growth: it wants chalky, well-drained soil.

Through the year

• January: Prune if needed.
• February: Pruning; planting season when there is no frost.
• March: Last month for pruning and planting.
• May: White flower clusters in bloom.
• July: Water young trees in dry spells.
• October: Red to purple autumn colour; pick the fruits and sow.
• November: Planting season; pruning can start again.
• December: Prune if needed.

What can you use it for?

Wood

One of the most expensive timbers in Europe: heavy, fine and reddish, for furniture, veneer and instruments.

Food and drink

The bletted fruits taste a little like dates; in Alsace they are distilled into a costly brandy.

For wildlife

Flowers for insects, fruits for thrushes and winter food for mammals.

Garden and landscape

Handsome, warmth-loving tree with a glorious red autumn colour.

Edible and useful

Berries (September–October)

Pick the berries from late September to October, when they are brown with pale speckles and still firm, or gather them as they fall by themselves. Raw, they are only good once bletted: lay them in a crate lined with straw or newspaper in a cool, dry place and leave them for 1–3 weeks to ripen, until they are soft, dark brown and sticky and taste of dates. The first night frosts do the same job on the tree. Take only part of the fruit: the tree is rare and birds and mammals rely on the rest.

Storing

Bletted service berries keep for only a few days in the fridge. You can freeze them or dry them on a rack in an oven at 50–60 °C. Dried berries keep for a year in a closed jar. Jam keeps for a year, liqueur for a year or longer.

Fermenting

In Alsace the bletted berries are fermented and distilled into an expensive eau-de-vie. Home distilling is illegal in Belgium: make a liqueur instead.

Caution: Eat the berries raw only when they are completely bletted: hard, greenish-brown berries are very astringent and can upset the stomach. Do not crack or chew the stones: they contain traces of amygdalin. Do not confuse them with the berries of rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), which hang in orange-red clusters and can cause stomach trouble when raw. The wild service tree is recognised by its lobed leaves, which look like maple leaves, and its brown, speckled little fruits. It is rare in Flanders: do not pick in nature reserves and leave most of the fruit on the tree. Do not pick beside busy roads or from sprayed trees, and throw away mouldy or rotten berries. Never eat anything you have not identified with certainty.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Wild service berry and apple jam (Jam · ± 4 jars of 250 ml · 1 hr 15 min)
• Dried wild service berries (Dried · ± 150 g · 20 min + 1–2 weeks bletting + 8–12 hrs drying)
• Wild service berry liqueur (Liqueur · ± 700 ml · 20 min + 6 weeks steeping)
• Wild service berry and nut cake (Dish · 1 loaf cake of 25 cm · 1 hr 15 min)

Did you know?

• The name torminalis comes from Latin ‘tormina’, colic: the fruits were once a remedy for diarrhoea.
• One of the most expensive timbers in Europe: heavy, fine and reddish, for furniture, veneer and instruments.
• The bletted fruits taste a little like dates; in Alsace they are distilled into a costly brandy.