Elderberry

Plant family

Moschuskrautgewächse (Adoxaceae)

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Dry

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

Medium

Plant distance

100 cm

Row spacing

100 cm

Seeding depth

5 cm

Instructions

Description

Elder (Sambucus) belongs to the genus of muskweed (Adoxaceae). The black elder (Sambucus nigra) is the best known and most widespread in our country and is also called lilac bush, elder or holder. It was valued early as a cultivated and medicinal plant and was said to protect against mischief. The woody plant grows fast, strongly branched, round-crowned and can grow up to 10 m high and 4 m wide. The white elderberry flowers can be made into elderberry syrup or baked in dough. If the blossoms are left, insects and birds enjoy the food and the resulting berries. The black drupes can be made into elderberry juice. However, the uncooked berries are poisonous, and the seeds should be removed. Except for the flowers, the other parts of the elderberry are also poisonous. Elderberry is perennial.

Growing tips

Elderberry can be propagated by cuttings. These are cut off in autumn and planted in fertilized soil on a frost-free day. Elderberry can also be sown directly from seed in the fall, but this is time-consuming and more difficult. After planting out, it should be watered well and the shoots can be cut back a little so that it loses less water. Elderberries like chalky soil. Elderberry is a shallow-rooted plant, so it should be planted at a sufficient distance from other trees or shrubs (approx. 1 m from other elderberry bushes, 2-3 m from other trees). If the berries are used, only harvest the ripe berries, as the unripe berries remain poisonous even after cooking. Otherwise, the elderberry is very robust and undemanding. It can be grown both as a shrub and as a tree. The harvested branches can be cut back in October or between January and March.