Edulis Rowan, Large Trees

Sorbus aucuparia Edulis: Bareroot Rowan Trees in Standard Sizes

Edulis is a Czech cultivar of our native Rowan tree. It is a medium-sized, deciduous tree with vigorous, slender and fairly upright growth that is easy to keep neat and tidy.
Fluffy clumps of little white flowers appear in May. These develop into red berries, which are just as popular with birds as they are with people. All Rowans have edible berries, once they have been cooked, and Edulis has among the best fruit for human consumption of any cultivar and far superior to a wild tree, whether you are making jelly, jam or wine. A popular choice for a working fruit and vegetable garden.

Rowans are famous for their autumn colour. The leaves begin to change to glowing orange, red and yellow embers at their own pace, with some green leaves remaining into mid-autumn. The clusters of cherry red berries are a great decorative feature from mid-summer, and all the elements reach a crescendo around the beginning of October.
It can reach a height of about 10 metres.

Browse our other varieties of Rowan and Mountain Ash.

Delivery season: Rowan trees are delivered bareroot during late autumn and winter, approximately November-March inclusive.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Height: 10m
• Soil: Any well drained
• Use: Specimen, small garden, large container, avenue, urban
• Colour: White flowers, red berries
• Best rowan for cooking & brewing with
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March

Growing Edulis Rowans

Any well drained soil. Suitable for large containers designed for trees. Full sun is necessary for good crops, otherwise partial shade is fine. Tolerant of pollution.
Edulis can be found growing high up on windswept mountains. Perhaps it's for this reason that they have sweeter fruit: to give the birds that spread their seeds an incentive to fly up to them.

Top Tip: The secret to success with Rowan berries is to freeze them before you use them.

Did You Know?

This Czechoslovakian variety was first recorded in 1810, became commercially popular in what is now Germany and Austria, and may have been grown in the UK since 1887, or the turn of the century at the latest. It is also known as the Moravica (Moravia is one of three historical Czech regions, along with Czech Silesia and Bohemia) or Dulcis (sweet) Rowan.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

Notes on planting Sorbus aucuparia Edulis trees:
Your trees are happy in acidic soils, even around pine trees. Alkaline soil will reduce the life span of the tree and we recommend not planting it at all on chalky ground, which kills off the friendly fungi that a Rowan's roots depend on to provide them with minerals. It can grow well in dappled shade.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the site where you plant a tree several months in advance. Kill the weeds first: for tough weeds like nettles, brambles and ground elder, you will usually need a weed-killer to get rid of them. When you dig the soil over, remove stones and other rubbish and mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.

Watch our video on how to plant a tree for full instructions.
Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Tree Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Neudorff WeedFree Plus.
You can buy a tree planting pack with a wooden stake & rubber tie to support the tree and a mulch mat with pegs to protect the soil around the base of your tree from weeds and drying out.
We suggest that you use mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all newly planted large trees: if your soil quality is poor, we strongly recommend it.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.