Elderberry: planting and care, pruning and propagation. Black elderberry: “Healing Sambuca” - planting, growing and care, propagation When to replant a large elderberry bush in the garden

Elderberry is a useful plant of the Adoxaceae family, class of dicotyledons. Back in the 70s of the 20th century, this shrub was classified as a member of the honeysuckle family, but in 2003 the APG II classification was published, where the elderberry genera, like viburnum, are classified in the Adoxaceae family.

The genus Elderberry (Sambucus) includes four dozen species of different plants. It is found in temperate climate zones of Europe and Asia, North Africa, and Australia. Found everywhere in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and southeast Russia. It grows most often as the middle layer of vegetation in deciduous and coniferous forests, on forest edges, along roads, and quickly grows, forming dense thickets. Elderberry has been known to mankind for many centuries; mention of it is found in the works of Pliny (1st century AD).

Description of elderberry

Black elderberry in landscape design photo What black elderberry looks like

Elderberry, most often a bush or low tree, ranges from 2 to 10 m in height. The genus also includes herbaceous plants, for example, “herbaceous elderberry”. However, we will pay more attention to black elderberry, as the most sought-after representative of the elderberry genus.

Black elderberry is a perennial woody plant. The branches are dense and thin. Young stems are green in color, but as they mature, they acquire a characteristic gray color and are covered with small “scales.” The leaves consist of an unpaired number of long serrated leaflets; the total leaf length can reach up to 30 cm.

Elderberry blooms at the end of May. Large, more than 20 cm in diameter, flat shields of inflorescences consist of white or light beige flowers of 0.8 cm each. The aroma of elderberry blossoms is strong, slightly suffocating up close. At the end of summer, the fruits ripen - a cluster of black berries with seeds. The berries themselves are small, less than a centimeter. Inside there is reddish pulp.

Elderberry is a fast-growing plant, and also very useful, so attention will be paid here not only to its planting, care and formation, but also to its beneficial properties, as well as situations when it can be dangerous.

How and when to plant elderberries

It is better to place elderberries on the northern or eastern sides of the site. Take into account that young branches have a very pungent, specific smell that repels insects, so elderberries are not planted near houses, but are placed near toilets, sheds, and compost pits. If you want to plant it near the terrace, where people are from time to time, then a pleasant bonus will be the absence of mosquitoes. In general, the plant is not particularly demanding, but dense shade or very acidic soil will have a detrimental effect on its development.

An experienced gardener knows that it is necessary to alkalize the soil wisely, and for elderberries - a couple of years before planting. And we advise beginners: liming the soil is carried out by adding dolomite flour to it (today the most popular remedy for soil acidification). The optimal pH for elderberry is 6 -6.5.

When planting this shrub, give preference to one- or two-year-old seedlings, choose a bright place for it and, as usual, plant in spring or autumn.

Prepare a hole for planting in advance; you will also need:

• humus - bucket;
• phosphates – 50 g;
• potash fertilizers – 30g.

Into the hole (depth 80 cm, width 50 cm) we pour a mixture of the listed components and the top, fertile layer of soil (this must be taken care of when digging the hole). We use about two-thirds and leave it to rest for a month. Already during planting of the seedling, we loosen the mixture in the hole, deepen the seedling, sprinkle the roots with the soil mixture from the hole, and then until the end with the remaining third.

As a result, the root neck of the tree should be several centimeters higher than the level of the site, however, after compacting and watering (a bucket or a bucket and a half), the seedling will sag and will be at the same level as the rest of the soil.

Most often, cultivated elderberry is grown as a bush, but if someone wants to grow it as a tree, then it is necessary to think about support and, during planting, dig in the appropriate post, and then tie the seedling to it.

Seasonal elderberry care

Spring

Overwintered trees are freed from insulating material near the trunks, from leaves and other debris accumulated in the holes. If the winter was snowless and the spring was dry, then spring watering should be carried out.

Take a close look at the bush. If there is damage from rodents or bad weather, treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate and seal it with garden varnish. As soon as the bright spring sun appears, the tree has a chance to get burned, because the tree bark heats up during the day and cools down very much at night, even to the point of frost. Such changes are clearly not good for the tree. To prevent damage, trees should be whitewashed with lime thick enough to leave a noticeable layer on the bark.

• Before the start of sap flow, prune the elderberry. The bush lends itself well to shaping. By nature, the shape of the bush is oval, not spreading; if desired, you can leave this shape or shape it to your taste.
• In the spring, it is necessary to remove dried and frozen branches, remove stems directed into the bush, it is advisable to get rid of about a quarter of the old branches.
• Be sure to cut off the root shoots. Afterwards, seal the cuts with garden varnish, and treat the bush with Bordeaux mixture or Nitrophen, as a preventive measure against pests that managed to overwinter in the bark or foliage near the bush.

Summer

Elderberry grows very quickly, especially if favorable conditions are created for it:

• timely watering;
• pest and disease control;
• loosening the soil around the trunk;
• mulching the tree trunk circle;
• additional food.

After the flowering period, it is necessary to spray against pests and diseases. Again, carefully remove the root growth, otherwise, if you miss a little, it will overtake the main bush or, even worse, begin to creep across the area. To prevent such expansion, you can protect the elderberry root system by digging some kind of barrier, for example, a piece of slate, to a depth of up to half a meter.

The end of summer may already bring the first harvest of berries. And a rainy summer can bring re-growth of shoots. What about the fact that with the other we know what to do.

Autumn

Autumn is the time to harvest and prepare for winter.

We collect the harvest, make jam, marmalade, and dry the berries. We prepare the bush itself for wintering:

• We carry out “sanitary” pruning (end of September);
• we dig up planting holes, apply fertilizers, mulch the soil (late September);
• if you plan to plant elderberry in the fall, then the last week of September is suitable for digging a hole;
• if autumn is dry, then it is necessary to water the bush well before winter;
• treating plants against wintering pests (October);
• whitewashing with slaked lime (October).

Let's talk in more detail about elderberry processing. If there are no visible pests or diseases, then preventive treatment twice a year is still required. The following drugs can be used:

• Bordeaux mixture;
• Nitrophen (3% solution);
• copper sulfate (1% solution);
• urea (7% solution) – relevant in the spring, because it will also be a nitrogen fertilizer.

The time for the first procedure is early spring, before the growing season begins, and the second is autumn, after leaf fall.

Elderberry will only ask for watering in very dry summers.

then you will have to pour up to two buckets under the bush per week. If the summer is with a normal level of precipitation, and you have also mulched the tree trunk circle, then sometimes loosening the soil under the bush and weeding out the weeds will be quite enough. Young seedlings, of course, require more meticulous care - both watering and loosening, but this is temporary until the elderberry grows stronger.

If the soil is fertile, and there is mulch under the bush made of compost or rotted manure, then the elderberry does not need feeding. On poorer soils, nitrogen fertilizers will not be superfluous. You can use popular organic fertilizers: slurry, chicken droppings. Complex mineral fertilizers are suitable. Fertilizers are applied in the spring.

• Garden and front garden care includes mandatory pruning of trees and shrubs.
• When planting elderberry, its shoots are shortened to 10 cm per strong outer bud.
• The same procedure is carried out every three years to rejuvenate the bush, called stump pruning.
• The rules for spring pruning are described above.
• Autumn pruning is aimed at removing branches damaged by wind or harvest.

Note that elderberry is used in park culture as a hedge plant, so it tolerates pruning easily and allows you to create various shapes.

If you use elderberry fruits, then remember that the 2-3-year-old branches are richest in berries, and after the sixth year you should not expect a harvest on such a branch.

Elderberry propagation

There are vegetative and seed types of propagation.

Growing elderberry with seeds

It makes sense to propagate elderberry seeds only if you purchased varietal seeds in a specialized store, since the seeds collected from a tree do not retain their parental characteristics and will simply grow wild.

• Elderberry seedlings can be obtained from seeds by sowing them in February-March in containers with nutrient soil or ready-made soil mixture.
• Remember that there must be holes in the bottom of the planting container to allow water to drain out.
• The seeds need to be planted shallowly, no more than 1-1.5 cm. The distance between the seeds is 4-5 cm, but it is better if planted in separate cups.
• Water and cover with film.
• We ventilate until shoots appear once a day, then remove the cover.
• When the seedlings grow a little, they are transplanted into larger containers using the transshipment method.

Only mature seedlings are planted in the ground in the spring. How to propagate black elderberry photo

It will be possible to plant plants in the ground only next year in the spring, when they are sufficiently strong. Having gained strength over the summer, they will be able to prepare for the winter.

Still, elderberry is most often propagated vegetatively:

• layering;
• cuttings;
• dividing the bush.

Reproduction by layering- a popular method due to 100% results. We bend the young branch to the ground, having previously poured manure into the groove, dig it in, leaving the end of the shoot on top. To be more sure, you can press the branch to the ground with metal hooks. We tie the shoot at the base with wire.

• If such a procedure is carried out with the onset of stable heat, using a woody shoot, then in the fall the rooted shoot can already be separated from the mother bush and transplanted to a new place.
• It’s easier with green shoots; they don’t need to be tied up at the base, but should be planted for next year, when they become woody.
• Such shoots do not really need to be secured, they are very soft, that is, they are buried and you have planting material for the next season.

How to propagate elderberry from cuttings

When cutting planting material is chopped parts of green shoots up to 25 cm long. A prerequisite is the presence of 2-3 internodes and two paired leaves. We treat the lower part of the cutting with stimulants for the growth of the root system and plant it in a mixture of sand and peat at an angle. True, the best cutting will be a young shoot, torn from a branch with a “heel”, because this is where the rapid formation of roots will take place.

• The cuttings need to be created in greenhouse conditions (can be covered with a tall plastic bag, a jar or part of a five-liter plastic bottle).
• We maintain high humidity for the first week: we spray the air in the “greenhouse” with a fine spray bottle; you should not get it on the leaves, as this will cause them to rot.
• If you plant cuttings at the beginning of summer, then in the fall there will already be roots and the plant can be transplanted to a permanent place.

The video will tell you about obtaining elderberry from cuttings, planting and care:

When the goal is to get an adult plant right away, you can divide the elderberry bush. In the fall, dig up the elderberry, chop or saw the root to create equal parts with branches and a good rhizome. The resulting bushes must be planted immediately. This can be done in pre-prepared holes or in containers for wintering, and transplanted to a permanent place in the spring. Most often this is done when redeveloping a plot or flower garden.

Pests and diseases of elderberry

Elderberry is not affected by any exotic diseases. The most common pest is aphids. One treatment with karbofos is enough here. You may find the elder moth, elder leaf mite, or elder leaf miner. Karbofos or Decis will also help against these insects, but you will have to spray it twice.

Let's look at popular varieties and types of elderberry with photos and descriptions

Black elderberry varieties and photos

Black elderberry (Latin Sambucus nigra) - the plant to which this article is mainly devoted, we associate with the village, simplicity, maybe with a grandmother in a colorful dress. This plant can use everything: flowers, leaves, bark, berries.

Based on this shrub, many favorite decorative forms have been developed.

Marginata - the leaves have a silvery border along the edge, the bush can be about 2.5 m in height, develops very quickly;

Elderberry black Madonna planting and care photo Sambucus nigra ‘Madonna’

Blue elderberry

A fairly tall tree, often about 15 m, is an inhabitant of the floodplains and mountain slopes of North America. There is also a shrub form with thin branches and young shoots of a crimson hue. The trunk of the tree and bush is yellowish-beige, and the leaves have a bluish tint. The leaf consists of 5-7 bare long leaflets 6-15 cm in length.

The flowers are small, white with a yellow or beige tint, collected in inflorescences up to 15 cm, and have a characteristic aroma. In September the fruits ripen - blue-black berries, half a centimeter in diameter. Blue elderberries have a bluish tinge on them that makes them appear really blue. Prefers warmer latitudes, as it is not frost-resistant.

Siberian elderberry

This subspecies of red elderberry is more resistant to frost, therefore it grows in Siberia, the East, and European Russia. Favorite places are mixed or coniferous forests and highlands. Siberian elderberry is a lush shrub up to 4 m in height. It is also called red elderberry for the color of the berries, which, by the way, ripen in late July - early August. The berries are edible when ripe, but are not popular. But unripe fruits cause abdominal pain, nausea, cramps, headaches, and can even lead to death.

Elderberry herbaceous

This is a perennial herbaceous plant with erect stems reaching a height of 1.5 m. People call it wild elderberry or stinking elderberry, for the pungent smell of the flowers. In the wild, she is an inhabitant of forests, forest edges, floodplains, and mountain slopes of Central Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The leaves are located on long petioles and consist of 9-11 narrow serrated leaflets. The flowers are collected in inflorescences, erect, white or pinkish in color.

The fruits of the elderberry are black shiny drupes, very attractive in appearance and easily accessible to children. You have to be careful, because all parts of elderberry are poisonous (contain hydrocyanic acid). Some literature describes the use of these berries for making liqueurs and other alcoholic drinks, but this is a controversial issue. Now, if you plant currants with elderberries, this will repel harmful butterflies and bud mites. But there is a minus - this plant has a strong creeping stem, so it will be problematic to remove elderberries from currants. When the flowers are dried, the unpleasant smell disappears and they are sprinkled onto apples for storage.

Elderberry

It is native to the rich soils of North America. This plant is loved by landscapers due to its remarkable decorative properties. Indeed: a large, up to 30 cm leaf characteristic of elderberry, magnificent umbrellas of white inflorescences reaching 25 cm in diameter, clusters of dark burgundy fruits, which are also edible. Let's add resistance to the climate of the middle zone.

Several decorative forms can be noted:

• maxima - distinguished by power;
• Acutebola - on the contrary, tender, with feathery foliage;
• chlorocarpa - the foliage has a yellow tint, and the berries are green;
• aurea - its leaves are green only in summer, and yellow in autumn and spring.

Elderberry Siebold

An eastern relative of the red elderberry. Natural halo - Japan, Kuril Islands, Far East. In Europe, a cultivated form is grown - a powerful plant (tree or bush) up to 8 m high with large leaves (20x6 cm). The inflorescences are loose, racemose, large.

Elderberry downy

It got its name due to the fact that the young shoots are pubescent. North America is considered its homeland. Cultivated varieties - four-meter shrub. in May, the color of the inflorescences is white, sometimes with a yellow tint, sometimes with pink. The fruits are red berries with seeds and ripen in July.

You can note forms with different fruit colors:

• xanthocarpa – yellow-orange fruits;
• leucocarpa - white fruits.

Use of elderberry and precautions

Black elderberry is a wonderful plant, every part of it can be used. And for good reason.

Here is a list of beneficial substances contained in this plant:

• in the leaves - organic acids (malic, valeric, acetic, chlorogenic, caffeic), carotene (provitamin A, as in carrots), tannins (eliminate the influence of microorganisms), choline (vitamin B4), vitamin C (0.28%) and etc.;
• in flowers - essential oils, valeric, malic and caffeic acids, choline, rutin, etc.;
• berries also contain carotene, malic acid, in addition – ascorbic acid, sugars, fructose and glucose, resin and coloring matter;
• in the bark - choline, phytosterol (cholesterol neutralizer), essential oil.

The leaves are used fresh as a compress for burns, boils, and cuts. The sheet must first be steamed. The leaves have an antipyretic, diaphoretic, diuretic effect, as well as a mild laxative effect.

There is a village remedy for the treatment of chronic constipation. To prepare it, you need to boil the young shoots in honey, cool, drain and take “elderberry honey” internally.

You can make tea from fresh flowers with the addition of lemongrass and mint.

A tonic made from fresh elderflowers will delight your skin. It is prepared simply: 10 inflorescences are poured with half a liter of boiling water, left for a day, filtered and stored in the refrigerator.

Lotions or baths made from elderberry bark help with arthritis, rheumatism, and gout. The decoction is recommended for skin and kidney diseases.

During the season, thrifty housewives make preparations. The most widely used are inflorescences and fruits. Flowers must be dried, carefully following the drying rules, as they are very susceptible to high humidity.

It is recommended to collect flowers on a dry, clear day after lunch...

Cut off coarse roots as short as possible, dry naturally or in an electric dryer, not exceeding a temperature of 35˚. Rub the dry raw materials through a plastic sieve, discard the rough parts, store the finished dried flowers for 2, maximum 3 years. We do the same with berries, only the shelf life of dried berries is reduced to six months.

It is worth remembering your preparations during the period of colds, because it is the decoction that has antibacterial and diaphoretic properties. Making a decoction is simple: at the rate of 1 tablespoon of flowers, pour a glass of boiling water and leave on low heat for a quarter of an hour. Then you need to cool, strain and drink half a glass three times a day.
A decoction of all parts of elderberry is used to regulate metabolism. Apples stored for storage are sprinkled with dried flowers.

Elderberry has been with people for many centuries

The Latin name for elderberry is Sambucus. One version of the origin of this name is from the name of the ancient Iranian instrument sambuza, which was made from elderberry.

Our ancestors found many uses for this plant. One of them is based on the coloring substances of elderberry fruits. Elderberry juice was used to dye fabrics: cotton, linen, hemp and silk. The color it turned out was black, but when mixed with alum it turned out blue. By fixing elderberry juice with vinegar, ink was obtained. Village girls blackened their eyebrows with berry juice.

Fruits and flowers were used to make drinks

For example, fresh flowers, lemon juice, zest and water were fermented to create a light, refreshing drink. Vodka was distilled from fermented berries. Also, elderberry is one of the ingredients of the famous Italian liqueur Sambuca. The exact recipe for its preparation is kept secret, but home craftsmen suggest making the drink yourself and it contains dried black elderberry flowers.

In the villages in the spring they rejoiced at the first greenery, so they made salads from various young plants, including adding young elderberry shoots to the salads. If you want to experiment, go back to basics, so to speak, then keep in mind that young elderberry shoots have a laxative and diuretic effect.

Black elderberries were used to make jam

The recipe is simple: sprinkle a centimeter layer of berries with a layer of sugar and so on several layers (1 kg of sugar for 1 kg of berries); let stand for a day, boil for 15 minutes and pour into sterile jars.

At a time when plants were treated with respect, elderberries were even treated with reverence. It was believed that it was bad luck to cut down an elderberry bush that had grown on your own in the courtyard, and before a sudden meeting with this plant, the men took off their hats. This respect is not idle.

Hippocrates also believed that elderberry could cure a dozen diseases. And Zikkerot (a doctor of the 18th century) recommended that every housewife have dried elderberry flowers and jam at home in case of a cold or kidney and bladder disease.

Prepared from berries and young wine

You will need a three-liter jar of juice and a glass of sugar or honey. The jar is tightly sealed and gases are removed through a water lock. Fermentation is carried out in a warm place, without access to sunlight. When finished, the wine is bottled, capped and stored horizontally in the cellar.

Already in the 21st century, elderberries were remembered again. It turns out that its use has positive results in the treatment of cancer and diabetes. B vitamins in berries are collected in exclusively correct proportions for humans.

We can talk for a long time about the beneficial properties of this plant, which is familiar to the eye, but there are also contraindications. The most important thing is individual intolerance to the components included in the composition. Therefore, you need to start using small doses, carefully listening to the body. Pregnant and lactating women, people with Crohn's disease, and chronic stomach diseases should definitely not take elderberry in one form or another.

The danger most often comes from other elderberries, such as red elderberry, whose berries can be confused with black elderberry. There is only one recommendation: if you are not sure what kind of plant it is, then it is better not to eat it.

The genus Elderberry (Sambucus) includes herbaceous and woody representatives. The most popular as ornamental shrubs are red and black.

Planting, caring for and propagating red elderberry and black elderberry is an easy process that anyone can do. These two types of elderberry are unpretentious and grow quickly even without outside help. Like all plants, elderberry has two main methods of reproduction: vegetative and generative.

Vegetative propagation of elderberry

A quick, easy and reliable way to propagate red and - using vegetative organs:

• aboveground shoots;
• root suckers;
• parts of bushes;
• underground creeping rhizomes.

The advantage of vegetative propagation is the preservation of elderberry varietal characteristics.

Elderberry cuttings

It is easy to obtain cuttings from above-ground shoots. To do this, in June-July, with a sharp knife or sector, cut pieces of green branches 8-12 cm long. Woody cuttings take root much worse, so it is better to use branches of the first year for planting. You need to leave 1-2 leaves on the cutting, since elderberry leaves are complex, then part of the pinnate leaf needs to be cut off, leaving two paired leaves on the cutting.

Plant the cuttings in a mixture of wet sand and peat in a 1:1 ratio. Using a rooting agent will increase the formation of roots by 2-3 times, so it is more rational to use it.

After planting, the seedlings should be kept at high humidity (75-85%), for this they are covered with film. The film should be located at a distance of 20-50 cm from the seedlings, and there should be holes in it for ventilation, otherwise the seedlings may suffocate.

It is important to maintain humidity for the first 4-6 days. This should be done by spraying the film from the inside, trying to prevent water from getting on the leaves (this can cause rotting and death of the plant). After a week, the cuttings do not need such intensive air humidification.

With proper care, cuttings take root in 6-8 weeks, and in the fall they can be planted in open ground. For the winter, cover the first year seedlings with leaves or straw.

Stem layering

Seedlings, using stem layering, have a high survival rate (up to 98%). To obtain seedlings from stem layering, non-lignified green branches and 2-3 year old woody shoots are used. They are bent to the ground and buried in a ditch, leaving only the upper part of the shoot. To ensure that the branch is pressed tightly to the ground, it is secured with a metal pinch. You can add compost or not very acidic peat to the ditch, and mulch the top with sawdust or rotted manure.

Lignified shoots at the base are tied with wire. With proper rooting done in May or early summer, by autumn the shoot will take root and can be replanted.

Green annual shoots are not replanted in the fall, leaving them to overwinter. And only the next year, when woody tissue appears in them, the seedling is dug up and transferred to a permanent place.

Planting elderberries

Elderberry bushes are divided in the fall. In this case, the resulting seedling is immediately planted in a permanent place, or in a container, and in the spring it is planted in the ground. As a result of this method, you can immediately get a large bush. But only an adult, large plant can be planted, and no more than once per season, otherwise the mother plant will suffer.

Generative propagation of elderberry

Unlike most shrubs, black elderberry is easily propagated by seeds. When propagated by this method, elderberry may lose its species characteristics, returning to its maternal form. But this method allows you to obtain a large number of seedlings in a relatively short period of time.

Elderberry fruits are distributed mainly by birds - ornithochory. After passing through the birds' food tract, the seeds germinate better because their shell is slightly damaged.

If you artificially damage the seed coat (carry out scarification), then elderberry seeds will give almost one hundred percent germination. Scarification can be carried out by treating the seeds with sulfuric acid, or grinding them with coarse sand.

Planting and caring for black elderberry seeds involves sowing them in the fall in a prepared place with a moistened substrate. Red elderberry is propagated by seeds in the same way as black elderberry.

Fresh elderberry seeds planted in open ground in this way germinate in the spring. Seedlings need to be mulched, this will increase their chance of survival. The plants develop quickly, and after a year they can be transplanted from the nursery to a permanent place.

Note: seedlings have a weak root system, so they need additional watering, otherwise they may die from lack of moisture.

Planting elderberry

Elderberry can be planted in spring or autumn. Spring planting should be carried out before the formation of inflorescences. It is best to plant elderberries in the fall after the bush has begun to shed its leaves.

When planting, you need to monitor the depth of the root collar. It is best for it to be level with the ground.

Elderberry grows well on various substrates, but a mixture of turf or forest soil with sand and peat in a ratio of 2:1:2 is best suited for the bush. Elderberry will respond very well if you add humus or compost when planting it in a prepared hole.

Elderberry care

Elderberry care involves feeding the bush, pruning damaged branches, and protecting it from pests. Even if the shrub has a neat, clearly defined crown, pruning is carried out to renew the shoots and to “awaken” dormant buds.

When pruning, remove dried and broken branches; this should be done in the fall, after the leaves have fallen. Pruning can be done in early spring, but this must be done before the active movement of juices in the tissues begins. But this requires some experience, sometimes over time you can make a mistake and harm the plant.

Note: if the elderberry branches are very frozen in winter, then you can cut the entire bush “to zero”; the elderberry will quickly recover thanks to new shoots.

Elderberry pests

Thanks to poisonous alkaloids, elderberry is not affected by most pests, but there are a number of species-specific insects that mainly attack elderberry.

The elderberry mite that infects the plant is not an insect; specific drugs (acaricides) must be used against it. The tick is very small and can be detected upon detailed examination. But signs of its appearance are drying curled leaves and cobwebs on them. The treatment must be carried out at a temperature of 22-25 degrees, the leaves must be dry, and the sun's rays should not fall on them, otherwise the plant may get burned.

The elderberry family has about forty species. At our latitudes, black elderberry is most often planted.

It is considered the most decorative variety; in addition, elderberries and flowers are used for medicinal purposes.

Proper planting of elderberry

Since ancient times, the elderberry has not been deprived of attention; it was planted near the house; it was believed that the elderberry ward off evil spirits. A properly planted and well-groomed shrub will over time delight you with lush flowering and a good harvest of berries.

Did you know? IN In ancient times, the peoples of the Balkans, performing rituals to call for rain, used elderberry branches in their rituals. Together with other plants, they dressed up a ritual doll; at the end of the ritual, the branches were removed and put into the water.

Choosing a place to plant an elderberry seedling

Elderberry is not a capricious plant, but loves good light. Find a well-lit place for it on the north or east side of the site. The plant tolerates light shade, but constant exposure to shade interferes with full development.

Important! Elderberry varieties with brightly colored foliage are planted only in sunny areas, otherwise the plant fades and loses its entire decorative appearance.

Elderberry relates well to its neighbors; in addition, fruit or ornamental flowering bushes and trees growing nearby will contribute to cross-pollination. This plant repels insects, so it is often planted next to an outdoor toilet or compost pit.

When and how to plant correctly

Best suited for growing black elderberry loamy soil. If the soil in your area is acidic, treat it with lime. Elderberry planting occurs in spring and autumn, in warm weather. A hole is dug half a meter deep and fertilized with organic and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Before planting, the soil at the bottom of the hole needs to be loosened. The seedling is placed in the hole without deepening the root collar. Then sprinkle with clean soil, and fertilized on top and compact it. The seedling needs to be watered with 10 liters of water, after the soil and water have settled, tie the seedling to a peg. Until the plant takes root and takes root, it needs to be watered frequently. In the third year of life, the bush will give color.

Some features of caring for black elderberry

Caring for elderberry is not difficult, the main thing is that it has enough light, moisture and timely pruning. This plant will decorate any garden with its color, and the glossy ink-colored berries on pink branches will satisfy even the most sophisticated taste.

Interesting fact! Our Slavic ancestors made amulets from elderberry branches, decorated their houses and gates, fences and other courtyard buildings with them. On the eve of Ivan Kupala, elderberry branches protected people and their homes from witches and other dark forces.

Watering the soil

Elderberry tolerates drought well, but moist soil without stagnant water is preferable for it. Young plants need frequent watering, while adults make do with rain. If the summer does not indulge in precipitation, then additional watering is necessary. Particular care must be taken to monitor soil moisture during the period of fruit set. In dry and hot weather, water the bush with 15 liters of water once a week. The basic rule in watering: the soil under the bush should not dry out. After watering, the soil needs to be loosened and cleared of weeds so that the elderberry root system breathes easily and is not deprived of nutrients.

When and with what to fertilize the soil

In rich nutritious soil, elderberry develops without fertilizing. But in early spring after winter vitamin deficiency and during the summer flowering period, nitrogen fertilizing will not be superfluous. Solid fertilizers are scattered around the trunk and incorporated into the soil by harrowing; liquid formulations are applied during watering.

Among organic fertilizers, manure or compost, chicken manure, as well as infusions of manure and droppings are preferable. Mineral fertilizers are needed if the plant begins to grow slowly or becomes weak. In this case, a complex of mineral mixtures is added along with watering. You can also strengthen a weakened plant with urea. By following these simple procedures, in the summer you will enjoy the lush clusters of black elderberry flowers, and in the fall you will reap a rich harvest of healthy fruits.

Proper pruning

In early spring, sanitary pruning of damaged or frozen branches is carried out. Once every five years, radical pruning is carried out to rejuvenate old bushes. Cut short, leaving a quarter of the trunk. Thus, new branches grow and the trunk bark rejuvenates.

Small pruning is done to form the crown. There is no need to think long about how to prune black elderberry. Even if you accidentally cut off more than you planned, the bush will quickly recover. In a few months, the elderberry will sprout new shoots. Pruning is especially necessary for elderberry varieties that bear fruit. At the age of six, the bushes stop setting fruit.

Reproduction methods

The optimal method for propagating black elderberry is vegetative; with the seed method, species and varietal properties are rarely preserved.

Seeds

Propagation by seeds is quite easy. Prepare the soil in advance, clear it of weeds, dig it with fertilizer, and loosen it with a rake. In October, collect the seeds and sow them in beds three centimeters deep at a distance of 25 cm from each other. Moisten the sowing. At the end of autumn, the crops will grow up to 50 cm.

For spring sowing, seeds must undergo a stratification process. Soak the seeds for five days, constantly changing the water. After this, place them in an airtight container with damp sand and store them in the refrigerator for about two months. This improves seed germination. When the expiration date has expired, remove from the refrigerator and store in a dry place. Spring planting is carried out in the same way as in autumn.

Cuttings

Cuttings are planted both in spring and autumn. Before planting cuttings, acidic soil must be limed in advance (preferably a year in advance). Cuttings are cut into 20 cm pieces, with two or three internodes.

Green cuttings are planted in greenhouse conditions, sprinkling the soil with a mixture of sand and peat. When the seedlings become stronger, they are transplanted into open soil. A hole is made 50x50, humus, potassium sulfate and double superphosphate are added to the bottom. There is no need to bury the seedling. The distance between them should be two meters. After planting, it is necessary to water.

Lignified cuttings are planted immediately in a permanent place, in the same way as green ones. After a black elderberry seedling has been planted, it needs proper care - regular watering and loosening around the trunk. If woody cuttings were not planted in the fall, they should be stored in the cold and planted in the ground in the spring.

People have known about elderberry for a long time. In the old days, it was considered a magical and healing plant, endowed with witchcraft powers, the ability to heal various ailments, and even prolong life. In Rus', they always tried to plant elderberries in every home, because they believed that it could protect against witchcraft and evil spirits. It was also believed that angels lived in the branches of the black elderberry and guarded the hearth.

Even today, black elderberry can become a decoration for any garden plot. Black elderberry belongs to the honeysuckle family. It is a shrub or small tree two to eight meters high. Elderberry begins to bloom in May. Black elderberry thrives in moist soil.

Black elderberry is a medicinal plant, which distinguishes it from the poisonous red elderberry. The value of black elderberry fruits lies in the large amount of vitamin C, carotene, potassium, amino acids, fructose, tannins, glucose, etc. In traditional medicine recipes, fruits, flowers, leaves, and even black elderberry bark are used. With the help of fresh elderberries, neuralgia, peptic ulcers, and hepatitis are successfully cured; in addition, they are also used for prevention. Dried elderberry fruits are used to successfully treat malaria. Researchers of medicinal plants believe that the healing properties of black elderberry are so great that it can be used as an adjuvant in the treatment of skin cancer, as well as stomach cancer.

Elderberry flowers contain choline, rutin, essential oils, coffee, valeric, malic acids, etc. Infusions and decoctions are made from black elderberry flowers, which are excellent for various colds: flu, sore throat, respiratory diseases.
Black elderberry leaves also have a healing effect, as they have a diuretic, antipyretic, astringent, diaphoretic, and sedative effect. They are also used for burns, diaper rash, furunculosis, and inflammation of hemorrhoids.
A decoction is made from the bark of black elderberry, taken for kidney and skin diseases. A decoction of the bark is used in preparing baths for rheumatism, arthritis and gout.

Externally, black elderberry is very similar to red elderberry - their differences appear to a greater extent during flowering. The black elderberry flowers are collected in fairly large umbrella-shaped inflorescences, having a diameter of up to 25 centimeters, while the red elderberry has similar yellowish-green flowers clustered into dense clusters up to six centimeters in diameter.

The berries of black elderberry are dark blue or almost black in color and are edible. You can use them to make jelly, jam, wine, syrup, jam or compote. Strengthening and vitamin tea is obtained by brewing equal amounts of black elderberry and rose hips. You can also mix elderflower flowers into tea leaves to give a familiar drink a unique bouquet.

Growing black elderberry in the garden is quite simple. However, remember that it loves sun and grows best in fertile, loamy, moist soils. And dry, sandy soils are unsuitable for black elderberry. In the northern regions, for planting you should choose a place protected from cold winds with sufficient snow cover in winter.

Black elderberry is propagated by seeds or cuttings. Seeds should be collected in mid-October and then sown quickly to a depth of two to three centimeters in rows with row spacing of 20-25 centimeters. Black elderberry seedlings grow quite quickly, reaching a height of 50-60 cm by the end of the first season. Black elderberry also takes cuttings well with both lignified and green cuttings. Annual seedlings should be planted in a permanent place. After planting, the elderberry is watered regularly and abundantly until it begins to grow. It is good to feed elderberries with organic fertilizers, but it is recommended to do this only at the beginning of summer, since fattening shoots do not ripen and freeze heavily in winter.
Black elderberry belongs to the fast-growing species. It produces especially significant increases in warm and humid years. By the age of four or five, elderberry bushes already look mature enough and begin to bloom. The plant blooms quite late in May-July. The ripening of fruits is also extended, when the first clusters may turn black in August, while others remain dark blue until mid-October, so the harvest should be harvested gradually.

Under natural conditions, black elderberry grows in the southwest and south of the European part of Russia, the Caucasus and southern Siberia in the undergrowth of deciduous forests, in bush thickets, singly or in small groups.

The fruits of black elderberry are spherical, small, shiny, black-violet, with red-violet juicy pulp, sweet and sour with a characteristic aroma. Diameter - about 0.4 cm, weight - 0.2 g. Collected in large clusters. The fruits contain sugars, malic, tartaric, valeric and acetic acids, essential oils, tannins, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), citrine (vitamin P), carotene and other biologically active substances. Unlike red elderberry, whose fruits are inedible, black elderberry does not contain harmful substances. When fresh, the fruits have a specific taste that disappears during processing.

The fruits can be dried, and can also be used to make jam, marmalade, jelly, juice, and soft drinks. It is advisable to use the juice as a food coloring.

A decoction of young leaves, flowers, fruits, and flower buds should be used as an astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic, as well as for mouth rinsing and poultices. Poultices are recommended for rheumatism, gout, and arthritis. Young, blossoming spring leaves can be boiled in honey and used as a laxative for chronic constipation. Peeled young shoots are good to eat boiled or pickled. When dried flowers are mixed with regular tea (1:3), a fragrant medicinal tea is obtained. Fruit jam and jelly are a dietary remedy for stomach and intestinal diseases. Fresh fruits should be consumed for rheumatism and neuralgia. Kissel made from dried fruits can be used as a laxative.

Elderberry phytoncides help well in the fight against mice and rats. Previously, it was planted around barns, branches were used to layer haystacks and tied around the trunks of apple trees. Elderberry growing in the garden repels moths, moths, moths, etc. Fresh branches placed in vessels with water between currant, gooseberry, and raspberry bushes (before flowering) protect against pests. Due to its rapid growth, undemanding and decorative properties, elderberry is advisable to use in landscaping plantings.

Biological characteristics of black elderberry. It is a shrub or small tree up to 6m high. The branches are covered with brown lentils. The trunk and older branches are ash gray with cracked bark and soft white pith. The leaves are imparipinnate with five to seven ovate leaflets and have an unpleasant odor. The flowers are white, small, fragrant, collected in large flat thyroid panicles. It blooms in June, the fruits ripen at the end of August and do not fall off after the leaves fall. In the Moscow region, in some winters the above-ground part freezes slightly, but quickly recovers.

In some countries, active breeding work is being carried out to create high-yielding and winter-hardy varieties of black elderberry with large clusters and simultaneous ripening of fruits. The varieties Adam, John, Nova and others were bred in the USA.

Black elderberry should be propagated by seeds (the easiest way), layering, stump shoots, and green cuttings. If you sow freshly harvested seeds in the fall, then, having gone through natural stratification in cold weather, they germinate in early summer. You need to sow no deeper than 1cm, add humus. For spring sowing, seeds require 50 days of artificial stratification. Then it is necessary to thin out the seedlings, weed the weeds, water and loosen the soil.

Landing place. There is a misconception that black elderberry is not particularly demanding on soil fertility and crown light, but it bears fruit better and overwinters in fertile soil and in well-lit open areas. You should also remember about the phytoncidal and decorative properties of elderberry.

How to plant black elderberry correctly. The above-ground and root system of the seedling should be shortened to 20-25 cm, the roots should be treated with a clay mash and planted in pre-prepared holes (50x50x50cm) to the same depth as in the nursery. The distance between pits is at least 1.5 m. One plant requires two or three buckets of humus, phosphorus and potassium (100 and 50 g of active ingredient, respectively), well mixed with the soil. The hole should be filled and the soil compacted with your foot. The seedling needs to be watered in two or three doses and mulched with peat or humus with a layer of 7-10 cm.

Caring for black elderberry . Plants need to be fed with mineral fertilizers, loosened, watered, mulched and shaped.

Black elderberry tolerates pruning well: the branches, recovering, create a good crown. It is necessary to prune annually in spring or summer so that the bushes do not become tall. Black elderberry responds well to the application of organic fertilizers, fertilizing, watering and mulching. In spring it should be fed with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (20-30 g of active ingredient per 1 m2). In summer, depending on moisture content, you need to water, and after one or two days loosen and mulch the soil.

When and how to harvest flowers. This should be done during the entire flowering period of the black elderberry before the corollas begin to shed, that is, for two to three weeks in June-July. Inflorescences cut with pruning shears must be placed in baskets or boxes. They should be dried under sheds or in attics with good ventilation, laid out in one layer on clean paper or cloth. The end of drying can be determined by the fragility of the inflorescence branches. Dried inflorescences must be threshed with sticks, the flowers separated on sieves (sieves) and poured into paper bags.

When and how to harvest fruits. From one bush you can collect about 2 kg of fruit. They must be harvested at full maturity. During harvesting, cut bunches should be placed loosely in baskets or boxes. Next, the bunches must be dried in the open air, spread out in a thin layer on paper or fabric, then dried in stoves or ovens at a temperature of 60°C or outdoors in the shade. Dried fruits need to be threshed and separated from the stalks and twigs using sieves.