Hello, we have two black elderberries in our Garden, and i as a beginner am looking for a guide on pruning these pretty trees/shrubs?).
The elderberries are already making leaves.
Hello, we have two black elderberries in our Garden, and i as a beginner am looking for a guide on pruning these pretty trees/shrubs?).
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Where are you located? Are these European elders (Sambucus nigra) or the American elder (Sambucus canadensis)?
American elders are often just cut to the ground (or about a foot tall) and they’ll flower and fruit on the new growth. This is what I do and it works great. If these are European, then I believe you need to preserve some of the one year old shoots to get fruit and cut away some of the older wood to regenerate the plant.
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European elderberry, Nigra.
I’m about 5 years in with my American elderberries and haven’t leveled them to the ground yet. Having good results with pruning back to the biggest healthiest branches and cutting it down to about 6’ high each winter.
I’ll jump in with a similar question, but particular to the Marge elderberry. I’ve read various descriptions of it as either a distinctly European cultivar that happens to be unusually adapted to N America, or that it’s a hybrid S. nigra x canadensis. Regardless, how should I prune mine? It is a very vigorous grower!
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I have wild american elderberry and cut it back to the ground each winter.
They say it makes them produce larger berry clusters. Not sure if that would work for your type of elder… definately different than mine.
Mine usually get wrecked in the fall by buck deer…
TNHunter
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We mow ours down with the lawn mower when we mow our asparagus in late fall. I dont know the varieties they grow wild here in southern IL.
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from what I’ve read they are a open pollinated sport of a popular commercial euro elder so should keep 2nd year growth as that is what fruits. I’ve read that it is a hybrid also but that has been debunked supposedly. i have 4 Marges i planted last spring from cuttings. they grew from 3 to 5ft. and may fruit for me for the 1st time this summer. i cut out all my older canes each spring on my American elders and they produce profusely and are 12-15ft. bushes. i may try cutting them to the ground in the spring to see how they do that way.