louisxiv wrote:
Yet another query from a gardening newbie.

I've just dug out a heap of soil and assorted debris (quite possibly decent
compost which i've sifted roughly and spread) from the corner of my newly
inherited garden. The problem is that in order to level it i've had to
expose a fair amount of the roots of an elder tree which was buried in it
about 3 feet above ground level and has been rooting in it for years.

The tree, which hasn't been pruned or cared for for about 10 years i'd
guess, is looking a bit patchy but has enough life left in it to warrant
some TLC and is about 12 feet tall. My question is what should be done about
the substantial amount of roots that are now exposed? Should I leave them,
prune them or find a way of covering them over again?

The tree hasn't been pruned for years either. Advice please?

We have loads of self-seeded elder here -- probably twenty trees or
thereabouts. I keep finding more I exposed part of the roots of one
last year when I was levelling out some ground and it doesn't seem to
have done any obvious harm. I guess it depends how much root is left
below the new ground level.

I've been wondering about pruning myself, as I want the flowers and
berries, but they'd be much easier to harvest if they weren't 5m off
the ground. A recent GW show (I think) had a clip about someone who
farms elder for making elderflower cordial, IIRC. He said he'd tried
all sorts of methods of pruning, but in the end just took the entire
tree down to about 30-50cm above ground level, let it come back from
there and then pruned to keep it under control size-wise.

I didn't have time last winter to actually attempt pruning any, but
I'll try on one or two this coming winter to see what happens.

James