Time to Prune Elderberries!

If you planted elderberries in your back yard, you might be wondering how to best care for them to get the most fruit and blossom production. We’re coming into the best season for pruning them! Find out more as we take a look at caring for elderberries on the homestead.

Elderberries are beautiful, with their creamy white umbrels in late spring and deep, dark berry heads in summer. The lacy leaf structure is really beautiful, and the bark is quite distinct, with its dotted pattern on the thin outer bark. But will they produce best if you let them go? The experts say we can do a good snip in late winter or very early spring for a better production.

I consulted multiple books and articles on pruning elderberry, and over the years I’ve found it to be beneficial to trim back my elderberrry bushes in February. I am in zone 7, so of course you’ll need to adjust that advice for your specific area. If you are under a foot of snow, adjust that to maybe March, even early April. The Florida folks may already be ready for trimming up the elder, so use prudence in your own back yard.

How to best prune elderberries:

First, we need sharp, clean tools. Take a few minutes to sharpen shears and cutters. We don’t want to leave jagged edges on our stems. Also, prepare a small bucket of a 50:50 solution of rubbing alcohol and water to sanitize the tools after each cut.

Once tools are ready, lets follow some quick and easy steps for the best pruning and production of our elder plants.

1. Assess the bush and find any dead or dying stems. We can cut those out immediately and discard any diseased stems, do not compost them.
2. Look for older canes. Elderberries produce best on canes that are one to two years old. Any canes over three years can come out. Look for lighter bark and woody stems. Newer stems will have a greener tint to them.
3. Carefully cut these stems down to the ground, leaving about 6″. These will produce shoots, so if you are looking to propagate your elderberries, this is the perfect way to do it. (We’ll discuss what to do with them later). Cross stems can also be removed to help air flow through the center of the shrub.
4. Remember pruning one-third of the stems is best. Don’t overdo it by removing too many canes. After taking out olderstems or weak, straggly stems, stand back and assess the plant. Make sure you don’t take out too much.
5. After pruning, give the plant a good start with mulch and watering if needed. You can fertilize with a good Azaleia food or wait another month and feed them. Remember, elderberry plants like slightly acidic soil about 5.0 to 5.5, preferring more acidity than even blueberries, at 4.0 to 5.5. I grow my elderberries and blueberries somewhat closely, as both need a good amount of water weekly. I just go lighter on the acidic food for elderberries.

I hope your elderberries benefit from yearly pruning, and you have great success and make delicious juice and syrup with them! Don’t forget to clip out a few flower heads for wine, for sinus teas, and more!

Suzanne
Wild Herb Gardening