Elderberry bushes
 

My neighbour has given me a bottle each of elderberry
port and a sparkling elderberry wine. Well I want to
grow my own and she's offered me some cuttings, but we
don't know :
a) the best time to plant
b) in greenhouse or coldframe.
Any help much appreciated.

..

Elderberry bushes
 

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:36:59 +0100, "Bertie Doe"
wrote:

My neighbour has given me a bottle each of elderberry
port and a sparkling elderberry wine. Well I want to
grow my own and she's offered me some cuttings, but we
don't know :
a) the best time to plant
b) in greenhouse or coldframe.
Any help much appreciated.
..
I'm afraid that bottles are notoriously difficult to propagate.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹

Elderberry bushes
 

In article , Bertie Doe
writes
My neighbour has given me a bottle each of elderberry port and a
sparkling elderberry wine. Well I want to grow my own and she's offered
me some cuttings, but we don't know :
a) the best time to plant
b) in greenhouse or coldframe.
Any help much appreciated.

I don't know where you live, but the thought of anyone actually
cultivating elderberries makes the mind boggle. Around here they grow
wild in great profusion and are more like an arboreal weed.

I don't know if you can grow elderberries from cuttings (for obvious
reasons) but the best way is to get some ripe berries around this time
and plant the seeds outside. I know they grow quickly in this way, as I
am always having to pull up tiny plants before they get established.

The elderberry is one of those plants which grows up again from the
roots however hard you cut it back.

I applaud your desire to make both elderflower and elderberry wine; the
plant is very useful in this respect, but it needs to be kept under
control.

Roy.
--
Roy Bailey
West Berkshire.

Elderberry bushes
 

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 Bertie Doe wrote:

My neighbour has given me a bottle each of elderberry port and a
sparkling elderberry wine. Well I want to grow my own and she's offered
me some cuttings, but we don't know :
a) the best time to plant
b) in greenhouse or coldframe.
Any help much appreciated.

I've found that they propagate very easily from seed in pots. Spring is
the best time but you could try now.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk

Elderberry bushes
 

David Rance wrote:
On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 Bertie Doe wrote:

My neighbour has given me a bottle each of elderberry port and a
sparkling elderberry wine. Well I want to grow my own and she's
offered me some cuttings, but we don't know :
a) the best time to plant
b) in greenhouse or coldframe.
Any help much appreciated.

I've found that they propagate very easily from seed in pots. Spring is
the best time but you could try now.

Or seed in the purple bird droppings produced in profusion. I would not
recommend planting one in a small garden. They are OK in a larger garden
or the countryside but it is easier to go picking them from hedgerows
than growing your own - same is true for sloes. Not much competition
apart from the birds these days.

I'd be surprised if the neighbours garden doesn't have a few elderberry
seedlings growing in the borders. Depending how near the neighbour is it
is remarkable that you don't already have some too!

Elderflower champagne made from the flowers is excellent too - but the
process is very tedious.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Why bother? They grow wild all over the countryside and are so easy to pick. They are also a tiresome and aggressive shrub in a small garden, needing annual cutback to keep them under control, which reduces flower and fruit.

If you really must, they are also one of the easiest to propagate. Just stick a whole row of small cuttings into the ground and turn your back.

Elderberry bushes
 

On 13 Sep, 19:51, beccabunga
wrote:
Bertie Doe;864301 Wrote:

My neighbour has given me a bottle each of elderberry
port and a sparkling elderberry wine. Well I want to
grow my own and she's offered me some cuttings, but we
don't know :
a) the best time to plant
b) in greenhouse or coldframe.
Any help much appreciated.

..

Why bother? They grow wild all over the countryside and are so easy to
pick. They are also a tiresome and aggressive shrub in a small garden,
needing annual cutback to keep them under control, which reduces flower
and fruit.

If you really must, they are also one of the easiest to propagate. Just
stick a whole row of small cuttings into the ground and turn your back.

--
beccabunga

They grow easily from cuttings and if you have access to a realy good
cropper then it could be worth doing.
Commercially there are now several selections grown for their fruit.
Remember they take up a lot of room if you are going to get a big
enough crop .
Cuttings taken in the autumn 6" - 12" taken end of Sept to early Nov
should root well by next year
David Hill

Elderberry bushes
 

Thanks all, I will try some cuttings and also use some
seeds from the berries. The plant that is producing the
berries is in fact a tree. It's very gnarled and must
be 15' tall. It forms part of a hedgerow between our
allotments and a farmers field.

I can't see any seedlings around, as I guess there's
too much competition for light, from hazel and cob.
Although there is no real problems for space as I own
an allotment, are there smaller, more compact
varieties?

Elderberry bushes
 

Bertie Doe wrote:
Thanks all, I will try some cuttings and also use some seeds from the
berries. The plant that is producing the berries is in fact a tree. It's
very gnarled and must be 15' tall. It forms part of a hedgerow between
our allotments and a farmers field.

I can't see any seedlings around, as I guess there's too much
competition for light, from hazel and cob. Although there is no real
problems for space as I own an allotment, are there smaller, more
compact varieties?

Only if you hack them down regularly. I have one on my field boundary.
It is more multistemmed shrub than a tree and about 4m tall 3m spread
only half over my land. The cows prune the field side for me. I have
planted the Black Lace S. nigra cultivar to keep it company. That is
much slower growing and quite ornamental too.

I would still suggest scrumping elderberries from the hedgerow rather
than using your own growing space. Blueberries are much more rewarding.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Elderberry bushes
 

"Dave Hill"
On 13 Sep, 19:51, beccabunga

Why bother? They grow wild all over the countryside
and are so easy to
pick. They are also a tiresome and aggressive shrub
in a small garden,
needing annual cutback to keep them under control,
which reduces flower
and fruit.

If you really must, they are also one of the easiest
to propagate. Just
stick a whole row of small cuttings into the ground
and turn your back.

--
beccabunga

They grow easily from cuttings and if you have access
to a realy good
cropper then it could be worth doing.
Commercially there are now several selections grown
for their fruit.
Remember they take up a lot of room if you are going
to get a big
enough crop .
Cuttings taken in the autumn 6" - 12" taken end of
Sept to early Nov
should root well by next year
David Hill

I had another look at the 'bush' this morning - it must
be an Elder tree, with a spread of about 20'. You
mention several selections, so I'll wait till some of
the local nurseries get in their Spring stock and may
have something more compact.

"Martin Brown" wrote

Only if you hack them down regularly. I have one on
my field boundary.
It is more multistemmed shrub than a tree and about
4m tall 3m spread
only half over my land. The cows prune the field side
for me. I have
planted the Black Lace S. nigra cultivar to keep it
company. That is
much slower growing and quite ornamental too.

I would still suggest scrumping elderberries from the
hedgerow rather
than using your own growing space. Blueberries are
much more rewarding.

At least I now know what they look like, the bush is
still in berries, don't know why the birds haven't
eaten them. I'll have a wander down the lanes and
identify a few scrumpable sites.

I've planted part of the allotment with gooseberries,
blackcurrants and 4 varieties of raspberry. One variety
didn't survive 'Glen Clova' so I was thinking of
replacing the row of a dozen dead canes, with
elderberry. The dead row is on the South side, so an
elderberry bush will produce too much shade for the
other fruit. Twixt now and Spring, I'll try and find a
spot on the North side, for say 6 e/b plants. On the
other hand, scrumping may prove more fruitful (ouch).
BTW Ronc, the bottles of hooch were plastic.

Bertie

Elderberry bushes
 

In message , Martin Brown
writes

are there smaller, more compact varieties?

Only if you hack them down regularly. I have one on my field boundary.
It is more multistemmed shrub than a tree and about 4m tall 3m spread
only half over my land. The cows prune the field side for me. I have
planted the Black Lace S. nigra cultivar to keep it company. That is
much slower growing and quite ornamental too.

I would still suggest scrumping elderberries from the hedgerow rather
than using your own growing space. Blueberries are much more rewarding.

Regards,
Martin Brown

I'd agree with that emphatically. I live adjacent to a park, with a
4ft No Man's Land in between. The elderberry tree which grew there was
the bane of my life, and I had to use an electric sabre saw to bring it
down, cut it up and drag the branches into the park.
The trunk was beginning to lift the park railings!

Phone the council? Waste of time.

The other bonus of having your own elderberry tree is that the bird
droppings on windows or patios are a delightful shade of purple, and
difficult to remove. ;-)
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

Elderberry bushes
 

"Gordon H" wrote in message
In message Martin Brown
writes


Only if you hack them down regularly. I have one on
my field boundary. It is more multistemmed shrub than
a tree and about 4m tall 3m spread only half over my
land. The cows prune the field side for me. I have
planted the Black Lace S. nigra cultivar to keep it
company. That is much slower growing and quite
ornamental too.

I would still suggest scrumping elderberries from the
hedgerow rather than using your own growing space.
Blueberries are much more rewarding.

Regards,
Martin Brown

I'd agree with that emphatically. I live adjacent
to a park, with a 4ft No Man's Land in between. The
elderberry tree which grew there was the bane of my
life, and I had to use an electric sabre saw to bring
it down, cut it up and drag the branches into the
park.
The trunk was beginning to lift the park railings!

Phone the council? Waste of time.

The other bonus of having your own elderberry tree is
that the bird droppings on windows or patios are a
delightful shade of purple, and difficult to remove.
;-)
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

Ok which one of you two is the Prime Minister?

Elderberry bushes
 

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 Bertie Doe wrote:

Thanks all, I will try some cuttings and also use some seeds from the
berries. The plant that is producing the berries is in fact a tree.
It's very gnarled and must be 15' tall. It forms part of a hedgerow
between our allotments and a farmers field.

It can be persuaded to grow as a tree - I have such a one - but normally
it will grow as a bush.

I can't see any seedlings around, as I guess there's too much
competition for light, from hazel and cob. Although there is no real
problems for space as I own an allotment, are there smaller, more
compact varieties?

There are some cultivars but they are developed for their foliage rather
than their fruit. The elderberry used for its fruit is a wild one and
doesn't come in varieties, except that some bushes seem to produce
smaller fruit than others.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk

Elderberry bushes
 

On 2009-09-15 23:30:18 +0100, David Rance
said:

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 Bertie Doe wrote:

Thanks all, I will try some cuttings and also use some seeds from the
berries. The plant that is producing the berries is in fact a tree.
It's very gnarled and must be 15' tall. It forms part of a hedgerow
between our allotments and a farmers field.

It can be persuaded to grow as a tree - I have such a one - but
normally it will grow as a bush.

I can't see any seedlings around, as I guess there's too much
competition for light, from hazel and cob. Although there is no real
problems for space as I own an allotment, are there smaller, more
compact varieties?

There are some cultivars but they are developed for their foliage
rather than their fruit. The elderberry used for its fruit is a wild
one and doesn't come in varieties, except that some bushes seem to
produce smaller fruit than others.

David

Unless the OP has plenty of space to let this one rampage, I really
think that gathering flowers for elderflower cordial and berries for
elderflower wine, are best done from wild hedgerows or neighbouring
farmland etc. In its original form, it's spreading habit takes up a
great deal of space.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Elderberry bushes
 

In message , Bertie Doe
writes

"Gordon H" wrote in message
In message Martin Brown
writes

Doesn't matter really

Regards,
Martin Brown

Some more rubbish

-- Gordon H

Ok which one of you two is the Prime Minister?

Not me! Honest!
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply