I grow quite a few serviceberries, and I almost never get to taste the fruit, the birds get them first. YMMV.

kentrees12 do you find a lot of them drop on the ground as the birds are eating them? Our neighbors are really concerned about the staining and bird droppings.

live on a very small urban lot and are having a landscaping project done. The plan is to plant 4 trees

==>>> how small and why 4 ... sounds like overkill ...

your first mistake.. was asking.. lol .. you could have always removed it later ... and they may have never noticed otherwise ...

now you added them to the decision ... and bingo.. look where you are ....

i really question a landscaper who wants to plant 4 TREES .. on a small lot.. by planting them.. abutted to the fenceline ... somethings wrong with this part of the story .... no tree ever stops growing .. ever... so why is he or she.. leading you down this path ... other than to sell you 4 trees ... if he is the seller ... look at the pix at the link ... do you have room for 4??? .. how small is small ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Serviceberry&t=ffcm&iax=1&ia=images

all that said.. two thumbs up.. for caring about the neighbors ...

ken

Your neighbor is absolutely justified in being worried! Your landscaper isn't knowledgeable or simply doesn't care. Choose something without those kinds of fruit.

Make your landscaper do the research and present it to you. :-)

They aren't terribly big trees, and I would think they would take reasonably well to pruning.

If you are really worried you could plant redbud, dogwood, or musclewood.

ken_adrian - It all came up organically when they were looking to replace some plants and wondered what we'd be planting.

I am glad it is coming up now before it becomes an issue. I think it probably will be really crowded with that many of these trees, but we do want to get some sort of canopy for a little shade back there. I don't blame them for not wanting berries falling that stain and we share a lot so we are all very close together.

edlincoln - Thanks for those tree suggestions, I'll do some more research on them. Also wondering if a birch might be a good choice. The plan was 4 trees of the same type, but long term it would seem better to diversify a little in case of disease, especially given the devastation of Emerald Ash Borer and Dutch Elm.

Is the objective shade? I almost think a couple taller trees are better for shade...if the branches are higher you can walk beneath them.

Serviceberry isn't being threatened by one plague, but like most flowering trees it is vulnerable to a number of diseases and problems...Cedar-Apple Rust, Winter moth, etc. it's mostly planted by people who like flowers or want to attract birds,

Most birch are vulnerable to a number of diseases, like Bronze Birch Borer. They sure are pretty though.

Shade and looks are our objective. Mostly we just don't want trees that will be messy at this point!

You and your neighbor might want to work together. We did. There are only two trees, but one is on our side of the line and one is on theirs. And no, I wouldn't plant all of the same tree. Not only does it look better to mix, as you said, if there is a problem with one, you might have trouble with all. No berries anywhere near a patio, driveway, or sitting area.

Serviceberries are not large growing trees and in fact, many are sold as multi-stemmed shrubs so size is not necessarily a major issue. And here it is rare that one ever gets to harvest the fruit - the birds take it all before it is even fully ripe. So I am not sure that any mess from dropping fruit is a valid concern either. But there are many other smaller growing trees that could work equally as well. And without either of these concerns (however minor they may be) and without the disease/pest problems that serviceberries can foster.

Serviceberries are fairly attractive (so you got the looks covered) and tend not to be super messy. When you say you want shade...are you visualizing yourself sitting beneath the tree, or blocking Clint the sun's glare in the afternoon?

If your objective is shade (among other things), you need to find something different. Serviceberries produce light shade. I grow tree and bush types, some produce no fruit, others make a heavy crop that keeps the birds happy. Mine are all in grass, but never noticed any fruit on the ground. If cedar-apple rust is an issue for you, fruits will get infected and turn to mummies and foliage will fall in summer, so no fall color.

I grow seviceberries for a couple reasons, they're native, they present an elegant winter appearance, and they're one of the few trees that can stand our often brutal spring freezes when in flower and foliage.

Rather than 4 trees on a very small urban lot, the landscaper may have meant a 4-stem serviceberry shrub pruned into a tree form. How else could you get a canopy/shade at all from such a sparsely structured plant?

(Serviceberries are graceful plants nonetheless.)

From my understanding it was to be 4 serviceberry trees all of which are pruned into the tree form. We are also going to look at some other types of trees too. I'd still like to have a couple serviceberry, they are so pretty. I posted on my NextDoor neighborhood page and will go look at a few "in the wild" today. Everyone has had wonderful things to say about them!

I can't believe the neighbors said anything to you about your choice of trees. I agree; they are overreaching. They have no right to tell you what to do with your own property. I doubt they would take kindly to you telling them how to landscape their land.

Having said that, you know that there will be a huge kerfuffle if they get their driveway stained, and who knows; they may secretly kill your trees in an effort to prevent that from happening.

Hey, it happens. Ive seen posts on here asking how to do it! lol