In the garden, an elder bush completes any natural plant community - whether as a majestic solitary plant or a decorative hedge plant. The following overview shows briefly and succinctly how you can properly plant and care for wild fruit trees.
How to plant and care for elderberry in the garden?
An elderberry bush can be planted in spring or autumn, preferably in a sunny, warm location with nutrient-rich, humus-rich soil. Care includes maintaining a constant moisture level, regular organic fertilization and, if necessary, annual pruning to promote vigor and crop yield.
Two times a year is planting time for elderberries
There are two alternatives to choose from in the planting schedule. An elderberry bush can be planted in the ground both in spring and autumn. To do this, choose a sunny, warm location. The soil should be nutrient-rich, humus-rich and not too dry. Consider an appropriate planting distance, as black elderberry stretches 5 meters or more towards the sky. How to plant correctly:
- clean the bed soil thoroughly and till it into fine crumbs
- The planting pit is twice as big as the root ball
- Enrich the excavation with compost (€12.00 on Amazon), horn shavings or granulated cattle dung
- Insert the potted young plant, previously soaked in water, and water it generously
A 2-3 centimeter thick layer of bark mulch keeps the soil around the elderberry bush warm and moist. A watering edge with a slight slope towards the root neck optimizes the utilization of rain and irrigation water.
The central aspects of care
The elderberry bush thanks to a careful choice of location with minimal care requirements. These are the aspects we are talking about:
- keep the soil constantly moist
- let the soil dry between waterings
- fertilize the elderberry bush organically every 2-3 weeks until August
- Alternatively, administer 60 grams of complete fertilizer per square meter in spring
Annual pruning is not absolutely necessary, but it still promotes vitality and crop yield. Consistently remove all shoots that grow from the root. Make the central maintenance cut between December and March, on a frost-free day. Since elderberry bears its fruit on the previous year's wood, the young shoots are largely spared from pruning. On the other hand, the removed branches are trimmed by 50 to 75 percent.
Tip
Enthusiastic Harry Potter fans have long known about the mystical meaning of elderwood. The wizard Dumbledore's powerful Elder Wand is made of exactly this wood, because elder means Elder in English. The evil Lord Voldemort steals the powerful Elder Wand from Dumbledore's grave, but Harry Potter takes it back because the wand only obeys his commands.
