Tree
How to grow a rowan tree
Sorbus aucuparia
Plant a rowan as a bare-root tree between November and March, in sun or light shade and free-draining soil that is neutral to slightly acid. It is fully hardy and stands wind and cold, but dislikes shallow chalk, waterlogging and drought in its first few summers. Stake low for two years, keep a mulched circle clear of grass, water in dry spells, and it will need almost no feeding or pruning.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to light shade
- Soil
- Most soils; free-draining, slightly acid
- Ideal pH
- 5.5 to 7.0
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting a rowan tree
WhenPlant bare-root Nov to Mar; flowers May; berries Aug to Oct
Starting off
Plant bare-root whips or feathered trees 1 to 1.5 m tall Nov to Mar, staking with a short 60 cm stake for 2 years; container stock any month with weekly watering. Propagate from berries collected Sep, the flesh removed and seed sown outdoors in Oct, germinating in Apr after a winter chill; cultivars are grafted onto seedling rowan in Feb.
Spacing and planting
S. aucuparia reaches 8 to 12 m tall by 5 to 7 m wide in 20 to 30 years; 'Sheerwater Seedling' and 'Joseph Rock' are narrower at 4 m wide, and S. vilmorinii stays at 5 m by 5 m. Plant 5 to 6 m from buildings and drains and 5 m from other trees, in a square hole twice the rootball width and no deeper, with the soil mark on the stem at ground level. Not a container plant beyond its first years in a 60 cm tub.
Varieties worth growing
- Sorbus aucuparia 'Sheerwater Seedling'
- A neat, upright form of the native rowan with heavy crops of orange-red berries; narrow enough for a small front garden or a street.
- Sorbus 'Joseph Rock'
- Amber-yellow berries that birds leave until last, set against red, orange and purple autumn leaves. More prone to fireblight than most.
- Sorbus vilmorinii
- A small, spreading tree to about 5 m with ferny leaves and berries that turn from deep pink to almost white. The pick for a small garden.
- Sorbus commixta 'Embley'
- Grown for the most reliable scarlet autumn colour of any rowan, with orange-red berries. Upright when young.
- Sorbus cashmiriana
- The Kashmir rowan: pale pink blossom and large white berries that hang on the bare branches into winter. Small and open.
A rowan tree month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Plant bare-root trees in open weather. Check stakes and ties.
- February
Plant bare-root. Loosen ties that are biting into the stem.
- March
Last month for bare-root planting. Seaweed meal for trees in their first two years.
- April
Mulch 5 cm deep over a 1 m circle, kept off the trunk. Autumn-sown seed germinates.
- May
Blossom. Start weekly watering of young trees in dry spells.
- June
Water young trees: 20 litres a week when it is dry. Watch for fireblight.
- July
Keep watering first and second-year trees. Keep the circle free of grass.
- August
Berries colour. Water in drought to stop early leaf fall.
- September
Berries at their best. Collect some for seed.
- October
Autumn colour. Sow cleaned seed outdoors. Remove the stake after two full years.
- November
Bare-root planting begins. Remove dead or crossing branches while the tree is dormant.
- December
Plant in open weather. Any formative pruning on young trees.
Feeding a rowan tree
An established rowan in the ground needs no fertiliser. Help it establish with a mycorrhizal inoculant at planting, seaweed meal and a mulch for the first two springs, and water. After that, leave it alone.
Low, a tough small native; little feeding needed.
Feeding plan
November to March, at planting
5 g per litre of root ball, in contact with the roots: 50 g for a tree in a 10 litre pot. The label gives no bare-root figure; treat a whip's root spread as about 3 litres and dust 15 g onto the damp roots.
March, first and second spring
50 g/m², the bottom of the label range: about 40 g scattered over the cleared 1 m circle (0.8 m²) round the trunk and watered in. Once each spring.
April, first three years
Garden compost
A 5 cm mulch over the same circle, kept 10 cm clear of the trunk.
June to August, first summer
1 g per litre of water, so 20 g in the 20 litres a young tree gets each week in dry weather, every 2 to 3 weeks.
From the third year
Nothing
No feed. Yellow leaves on chalk are a pH problem that fertiliser will not fix.
Signs to watch
Yellow leaves with green veins on chalk → lime-induced chlorosis, to which rowan is prone as a mountain tree of acid soils → chelated iron, sulphur, a compost mulch, or plant the lime-tolerant whitebeam (S. aria) instead. Early leaf drop and few berries in Aug → drought on a shallow-rooted young tree, not hunger → 20 litres weekly in dry spells and mulch. Older leaves yellow between the veins in A
Pests, diseases and problems
Shoots and blossom wilt and blacken as if scorched, dead leaves hang on the branch
Fireblight, a bacterial disease that enters through the flowers in warm, wet weather in late spring
Cut affected branches back 60 cm into healthy wood as soon as you see it, clean the blades between cuts, and bin or burn the prunings.
Pale green blisters on the leaves in May that turn brown or black by summer
Mountain ash blister mite, a microscopic mite living inside the leaf
Tolerate it. The tree is not harmed and there is no worthwhile treatment; pick off the worst leaves on a young tree if they bother you.
Berries stripped within a week or two of colouring
Blackbirds, thrushes and starlings, which take red and orange berries first
Enjoy it, since feeding birds is half the point of a rowan. For a longer display plant a yellow, pink or white-berried kind such as 'Joseph Rock', S. vilmorinii or S. cashmiriana.
Sunken, cracked patches of bark on branches, with growth dying beyond them
Canker fungi entering through wounds, worse on wet, heavy soil
Prune out affected branches to clean wood in dry weather, improve drainage, and avoid damaging the bark with mower or strimmer.
Young leaves curled and sticky at the shoot tips in spring
Aphids
Leave them for ladybirds and blue tits; on a tree in its first year, rub them off by hand or use a jet of water.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Do not reduce the crown; a rowan that is too big is in the wrong place. Mulch 5 cm each Apr for the first 3 years and water 20 litres weekly in dry spells during establishment. Remove the stake after 2 years.
Good to knowSpring blossom, autumn berries for birds and good autumn colour; an ideal small-garden tree.
Growing a rowan tree in pots
A rowan is not a long-term container tree. It will grow for its first three or four years in a 60 cm tub of loam-based compost, but it resents drying out, sheds leaves early in a hot summer and soon becomes top-heavy. If a tub is the only option, choose the small Sorbus vilmorinii, water daily in summer, top-dress with fresh compost each spring and plan to plant it out in the dormant season before it becomes pot-bound. In the ground it will be healthier with a fraction of the attention.
A rowan tree: common questions
How big does a rowan tree get?
The native rowan, Sorbus aucuparia, reaches 8 to 12 m tall and 5 to 7 m wide in 20 to 30 years. Narrow cultivars such as 'Sheerwater Seedling' stay about 4 m wide, and Sorbus vilmorinii reaches only about 5 m. Choose the tree to fit the space, because rowans do not respond well to having the crown cut back.
Are rowan berries poisonous?
Raw rowan berries are bitter and can upset the stomach, so they should not be eaten straight from the tree. Cooked, the berries of the native Sorbus aucuparia are safe and are traditionally made into rowan jelly to eat with game and lamb. Birds eat them raw without harm.
When should I prune a rowan tree?
Prune between late autumn and late winter while the tree is dormant, and prune as little as possible. Remove dead, damaged or crossing branches and any shoots from the trunk below the head. A rowan forms a good shape on its own, and one that needs regular cutting back is in the wrong place.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- Sorbus aucuparia (rowan)RHS
- Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)Woodland Trust