Elderberry

[Hoytvectrix]

Reviving an old thread. I have ordered some elderberry from MDC. I would prefer not planting in cages as they are getting quite expensive per tree.

Has anyone tried elderberry with tree tubes? I saw a single comment on another thread but nothing speaking to how the elderberries did after a growing season or 4.

 

[SD51555]

Reviving an old thread. I have ordered some elderberry from MDC. I would prefer not planting in cages as they are getting quite expensive per tree.

Has anyone tried elderberry with tree tubes? I saw a single comment on another thread but nothing speaking to how the elderberries did after a growing season or 4.

I tried it about ten years ago. They didn't go for me. I don't think I was stretching zones either, but they just never amounted to anything. I also got my stock from Coldstream, and their eldeberry plants were always terribly small. It was a joke what they shipped me two years in a row. That was the end of that experiment.

 

[Teeder]

When I transplanted my elderberry cuttings, I put them in tubes for the first year.
The pictures are the second summer. If planted somewhat close it would make a pretty good screen, atleast in summer.

 

[Fair oak]

I just ordered 10 American and 10 red elderberry 12-18” seedlings from chief river nursery. Gonna plant them in big cages in a 1 acre food plot that I’m letting go back more natural and enhancing with shrubs, conifers, etc. Also ordered 10 high bush cranberry and 10 arrowwood viburnum. Don’t really need them but I want them.

 

[Charles Clear]

It really is crazy how different places are. I have a ton of wild elderberries, and I even added a few different varieties from St Lawrence. The deer here do not touch them. They are so invasive, they pop up everywhere. I see birds eat the berries. Very easy to propagate too. Keep them wet and they will root.

 

[SD51555]

It really is crazy how different places are. I have a ton of wild elderberries, and I even added a few different varieties from St Lawrence. The deer here do not touch them. They are so invasive, they pop up everywhere. I see birds eat the berries. Very easy to propagate too. Keep them wet and they will root.

I think that may be my problem. There isn't an elderberry anywhere in my country that I've seen. I'd be better served to chase down and flag juneberries when they bloom again this spring. Those on the other hand are fairly prevalent.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

When I transplanted my elderberry cuttings, I put them in tubes for the first year.
The pictures are the second summer. If planted somewhat close it would make a pretty good screen, atleast in summer.

Thanks for the feedback. Were they growing out of the tubes after the first year? Sounds like you removed them. Was it because they got too leggy? Did you end up protecting them in any way afterwards?

 

[Teeder]

Thanks for the feedback. Were they growing out of the tubes after the first year? Sounds like you removed them. Was it because they got too leggy? Did you end up protecting them in any way afterwards?

Yes, they got too big and growing out the top. Now that I think about it, the tubes were doubled so the diameter was bigger, too. I didn't protect them at all after that. It didn't take very long before they grew out of reach of the deer.

 

[Troubles Trees]

I have a ton of Elderberry in my area but failed to acknowledge where they were growing naturally before I planted them where I wanted them in full sun, they never took off. In my area they grow naturally on the edge of swamps and wet areas and seem to prefer not being in full sun. This reminds me I should have taken another swing at planting them this year since I don't have much ordered yet.

 

[SwampCat]

They dont seem to do well in calcareous soil. I have 8 of them in four ft cages for four years. None of them has made it out of the cage, yet. Last year, we had a three month summer drought. Drought looked like it killed six of them. They are all growing back from the ground. I think they have already grown more in a month than the previous four years. Like that reset invigorated them.

 

[Native Hunter]

I did cages and had good luck. Cages can eventually be removed.

 

[cavey]

They grow good in my fenced nursery but get pounded by the deer out side of a cage on my land... frustrating to no end.

 

[Fair oak]

I did cages and had good luck. Cages can eventually be removed.

How big were the cages for the elderberry? I will use 5’ tall fencing but wondering how many cages I can get per 50’ roll.

 

[Native Hunter]

How big were the cages for the elderberry? I will use 5’ tall fencing but wondering how many cages I can get per 50’ roll.

I would recommend about a 3 foot diameter cage. By the time the shrub is pushing out the sides, the top of the shrub should be tall enough to keep the deer from browsing the vertical growth, and the roots should be well established. I was able to remove the cages at that point and use them at other locations. My shrubs got browsed when I removed the cages, but they were established enough that they would be okay.

I first tried establishing elderberry without cages and it didn't work. Now that I have several of them growing, I see seedlings pop up at various places, and many of those seedlings will survive without caging. This is especially true if they pop up in a place that the deer can't easily reach - like in a downed tree top, briery fence row, etc....

Even though this works for me, it might not work for you if you are in a place where deer are extremely overpopulated.

 

[TreeDaddy]

I did cages and had good luck. Cages can eventually be removed.

a recurring theme( see topworking callery thread)

Steve just raises his hand and fruit trees turn magical

bill

 

[omicron1792]

a recurring theme( see topworking callery thread)

Steve just raises his hand and fruit trees turn magical

bill

I thought the same thing. I can imagine him saying “rise” like a Jedi and it popping up to tree height.

 

[Native Hunter]

I lift up oak trees too:

 

[g squared 23]

Elderberry are one of the first natives around me to wake up in the spring, right alongside japanese bush honeysuckle, autumn olive and multiflora rose. I have to be careful spraying because if I’m in a hurry, elderberry can resemble JBH, especially as it’s just waking up. Mistakes have been made in the past.


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