Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)

How much light does a Black Chokeberry need?

Full sun, meaning 6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day, is the preferred exposure for black chokeberry. The shrub also tolerates part shade. Plant it in full sun when you can, and choose part shade only where the site cannot offer six hours of direct light.

• Light: Full sun and part shade (full sun preferred)^1,2,3

How often to water a Black Chokeberry

Black chokeberry accepts soil moisture from dry to wet. The range reaches from dry soil to wet soil, and it includes occasionally saturated or very wet conditions. The drainage listing also names moist, occasionally dry, occasionally wet and well drained soil. Poorly drained soil is listed as well.

• Water: Dry to wet³

Best soil for a Black Chokeberry

Black chokeberry can tolerate acid to alkaline soil, with a pH from 5 to 8. Soil drainage can be well drained, moist, occasionally dry, occasionally wet or poorly drained. Poorly drained to well drained soils, and moist to wet ones, are both within its range. The matching water listing for this shrub runs from dry at the low end to wet at the high end.

• Soil drainage: Well drained, moist, occasionally dry, occasionally wet and poorly drained^1,2
• Soil pH: pH 5–8³

Hardiness and temperature

Black chokeberry is listed for USDA hardiness zones 3a to 8b. That range covers twelve half-zone steps from 3a through 8b. Another description gives hardiness zones 3 to 8. The span covers the cold zones 3a and 3b as well as the warmer zones 8a and 8b. The shrub is deciduous. No minimum temperature or humidity figure is documented for it.

• Hardiness: Zones 3a–8b^1,2

Fertilizing a Black Chokeberry

Fertilizer needs are light for black chokeberry, with one yearly feeding. The feeding is split into two halves, each applied at a separate time. The plant's overall maintenance level is rated low. Soil for this shrub can fall anywhere between pH 5 and pH 8.

• Fertilizer: Light, once a year (Mar, May)⁴

Pruning a Black Chokeberry

Pruning for black chokeberry is light shaping. Very little is required other than thinning out the bush every 5 to 8 years. Its maintenance level is low. Mature height runs 3–10 ft (0.91–3.05 m), with a spread of 2–6 ft (0.61–1.83 m).

• Pruning: Light shaping⁴

How to plant a Black Chokeberry

Your zone should fall between 3a and 8b before you plant black chokeberry. Space plants with its mature spread of 2–6 ft (0.61–1.83 m) in mind. Expect a mature height of 3–10 ft (0.91–3.05 m). Choose a site with full sun, though part shade is tolerated. The soil can range from pH 5 to 8 and from well drained to poorly drained. The shrub is native in the lower 48 United States.

• Hardiness: Zones 3a–8b^1,2

Winter care

Winter care starts with your zone: black chokeberry is listed for zones 3a to 8b. It is a deciduous shrub. Gardeners in zone 3a sit at the cold edge of the listed range, while those in zone 8b sit at the warm edge. No cited source records a minimum temperature, and this page gives no degree figure for winter cold.

• Hardiness: Zones 3a–8b^1,2

How to propagate a Black Chokeberry

Black chokeberry can be propagated either by seed or by stem cuttings. The cutting method named is softwood cuttings. Seed and stem cuttings are the two methods listed. Each new plant can reach a mature spread of 2–6 ft (0.61–1.83 m) and a height of 3–10 ft (0.91–3.05 m).

• Propagation: Seed and stem cuttings⁵

Common problems

San Jose scale and Pochazia shantungensis are the two pests recorded for black chokeberry. The diseases recorded are fire blight, cedar quince rust and cotton root rot. Those are the five problems this page lists. This page gives no treatment advice for any of them.

• Common pests: san jose scale and pochazia shantungensis^6,6
• Common diseases: fire blight, cedar quince rust and cotton root rot⁶

Questions and answers

How much sun does black chokeberry need?

Full sun is preferred, which means 6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day. It also tolerates part shade. The plant is a deciduous shrub that grows 3–10 ft (0.91–3.05 m) tall.

How big does black chokeberry get?

Mature height is 3–10 ft (0.91–3.05 m). Mature spread is 2–6 ft (0.61–1.83 m). It is a shrub with white and pink flowers. Very little pruning is needed other than thinning every 5 to 8 years.

Can black chokeberry grow in wet soil?

Its water range runs from dry to wet, including occasionally saturated or very wet soil. Drainage listings include poorly drained, occasionally wet and well drained soil. The pH range is 5 to 8.