(Note: I’d like to thank Cornell University for graciously allowing me to post this info here.)
Planting
Elderberries grow best in moist, fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5, but will tolerate a wide range of soil texture, fertility, and acidity. It’s a myth that they prefer swampy areas. In fact, they do not tolerate poor drainage. Plant elderberries in spring, as soon as possible after they arrive from the nursery to prevent plants from drying out. Space plants 6 to 10 feet apart. Elderberries are shallow rooted, so keep them well-watered during the first season. Plants are easy to propagate from hardwood cuttings taken when plants are dormant.
Fertilizing
Elderberries respond well to fertilization. In addition to incorporating manure or compost before planting, apply additional fertilizer annually in early spring. Apply 1/8 pound of ammonium nitrate (or .5 lbs. 10-10-10) for each year of the plant’s age, up to one pound per plant (or up to 4 lbs. 10-10-10).
Weed Control
The most difficult problem faced when growing elderberries is weed control. Because they have shallow roots, do not cultivate deeper than 2 inches. After the first year, it is best to avoid disturbing the soil at all because the slightest injury can damage the fibrous root system or kill one of the new upright shoots. Use a combination of pulling weeds by hand while they are still small, mowing and mulching to control weeds without disturbing the elderberry roots. Once you develop a thick hedgerow of plants, elderberries can suppress weeds quite well.
Harvest
Harvest elderberry fruit in late August through early September, depending on the cultivar. When ripe, the entire cluster should be -removed and the berries stripped from the cluster for use. Uncooked berries have a dark purple juice and are astringent and inedible. Use the fruit as soon as possible or keep it at a cool temperature for later use. It is difficult to transport elderberries because the fruits fall off the cluster during transit.
Pruning
Elderberries send up many new canes each year. The canes usually reach full height in one season and develop lateral branches in the second. Flowers and fruit develop on the tips of the current season’s growth, often on the new canes but especially on laterals. Second-year elderberry canes with good lateral development are the most fruitful. In the third or fourth year, older wood tends to lose vigor and become weak. In late winter to early spring while the plants are dormant, remove all dead, broken or weak canes, plus all canes more than three years old. Leave an equal number of one, two, and three-year-old canes.
Choosing cultivars
Individual flowers are small, white, and borne in large compound clusters. They are nearly self-unfruitful, so plant two different cultivars within 60 feet of each other to provide adequate cross-pollination. ‘Adams No. 1′ and ‘Adams No. 2′ are two old cultivars, introduced by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1926. They are strong, vigorous, productive, hardy to Zone 4 and bear large fruit clusters. They also ripen late, with fruit maturing in early September. Other cultivars with large clusters and berries include ‘York’,’ Johns’,’ Kent’,'Nova’, and ‘Scotia’. ‘York’ is somewhat more productive than the Adams series, and the berries tend to be larger.
Diseases and Insects
Elderberry plants are generally free of pests, which makes them great for landscape plantings. Powdery mildew is a problem in some years, especially when it affects the fruit. Cane borers occasionally cause damage, but are usually not present in large numbers. Pruning out infested canes is the best remedy for home gardeners.
Copyright (c), Department of Horticulture, Cornell University.
Used with permission.
http://www.fruit.cornell.edu
18 responses so far ↓
1 Sarah // Mar 13, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Are elderberries the same things as currents?
2 Amy // Mar 13, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Nope, elderberries are different. Elderberries are the genus Sambucus, while currants are the genus Ribes. They’re both dark berries that grow on bushes, but not the same thing. I think currants are actually closer to gooseberries in family than they are to elderberries.
3 Becky // Mar 24, 2008 at 6:19 am
I bought two elderberry shrubs and planted them about 5′ apart. One was planted in 2006, the 2nd in 2007. Both plants are doing well. However, neither has yet to produce fruit except for the berries that followed the flowers on the plant at the time of purchase. Do elderberries have sexes? Do I need different varieties? Do they need to grow bigger before bearing fruit? How can I get them to bear? Thanks.
4 Amy // Mar 28, 2008 at 2:15 pm
It’s best to have different varieties of the same type - for example, two varieties of Sambucus canadensis, or Sambucus nigra, for best pollenization. Adams and York are said to be two varieties that will do well together, or York and Nova. The branches that should bear the best (and most) fruit are the ones in their second year, but they can bloom in the their first three years, and as long as the plant’s mature and healthy, I don’t think their size should have an effect on how well they produce. Are you fertilizing them well?
5 Rob // Apr 17, 2008 at 12:06 pm
So, to follow up on the previous question… do you NEED 2 bushes in order to get fruit or will one bush, by itself bear fruit?
TIA
-Rob
6 K // Apr 24, 2008 at 11:08 am
I planted 2 Elderberry bushes last spring, one is doing well, and the other snapped off at the stem about 3-4 inches from the ground. Will this regrow or is it done for? Any advise would be great.
7 Char // May 13, 2008 at 11:50 am
OK, so I didn’t get the answer to Rob’s question. Do you need two bushes?
Also, my property is very shaded from Oak trees. Will the Elderberry bush so OK with a lot of Oak trees, or do I need to plant in an “organic garden soil” type?
8 Ulrich Young // May 13, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I have over 750 ft of elderberries with the varieties States, Adams and John’s. The plants started making berries the next summer after planting and got better as root system got grew. I do think that bee s are important for good pollination. I noticed a real increase in fruit set last summer after placing 2 bee hives at farm.
Char, In eastern oklahoma, the common elderberry does very well in partially open oak timber as long as soil is good, just be sure to fertilize for good production.
K, relax it will come back if roots are well established.
9 K // May 21, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Ulrich, thanks, actually since I left the message, I decided to tape the break,( it wans’t broke all the way thru) and it is doing wonderful, but thank you for your response!
10 bob // May 26, 2008 at 12:18 pm
“They are nearly self-unfruitful, so plant two different cultivars within 60 feet of each other to provide adequate cross-pollination.” quoted from “choosing cultivars”, above.
11 Char // May 27, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Ulrich, thanks for the response.
12 NJohn // Jun 10, 2008 at 4:17 am
I have to many elderberries and would really like to clear some out. how do I do this without causing damage to the others, they have been allowed to grow wild and are now as close as 1 foot apart.
13 Mike // Jun 11, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Help! All of our elderberry bushes were stripped of their leaves last year. Something ate every last leaf. This year, there were only a few leaves but they too were eaten this year. Can anyone help?
Thanks
14 Darlene Norton // Jun 19, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I planted an elderberry bush early this spring and it has been growing well, it has small white things, flowers ? Now one of the shoots is wilted and the leaves are yellowing, I just noticed some more yellow leaves now on the other stalks,
I water it daily since I live in N az and it is dry here now and hot. I fertilzed it a week ago with Miracle grow plant food for trees and bushes. What am I doing wrong and how do I save this plant ???
Thanks
Darlene
15 Deborah Daily // Jul 4, 2008 at 4:57 am
Hi Darlene,
from the symptoms you describe and the care you have been lavishing on your plant, it sounds as though you may be overwatering it. I would back off on the daily watering, talk to a local nursery for watering tips for your area for this plant and see how things go from there. I know that the wild Elderberry bushes here in California are happiest on a dry, well drained, sunny hillside in full sun with little or no summer irrigation.
16 Pat // Jul 7, 2008 at 11:55 am
Can I propagate elderberry?
17 Howard Parker // Jul 7, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I moved my elderberry plant to a new location. After two years it had a lot of berries on it. The next year it grew very tall and had tons of pre-berries. Then al the leaves started to fall off of the branches abd stems … and no berries. This year it looks like it is doing this again. I am planning to stop at Cornel Farm and Home center in Lockport to find out what is wrong.
18 Missanne // Jul 7, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I live in middle california, inland of the coast and have had an elderberry ‘tree’ for most of my life. Once or twice it’s actually been cut back severly as someone planted it so close to the house it actually roots under the open deck and worms it’s way through the supports.
My question is, if elderberries don’t self-fruit, what is polinating this thing? No one but no one has another anywhere near here. Also, how can I identify what sort of elderberry it is since it doesn’t follow the usual shrubbery nor berry descriptions. BTW, this is definately elderberry.. we’ve used it’s berries for years.
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