So do like the pros

The best time to cut back

The choice of the date for a shape and maintenance cut on the black elder decisively decides on the successful course of the Maintenance measure. The shrub blooms and always produces fruit on the shoots that grew in the previous year. It follows that the day after the harvest is considered for the cut. Experienced hobby gardeners therefore take advantage between November and March Loppers.

A black elderberry receives the very first pruning in the second year at the earliest. In the year after the planting it should initially be able to develop unhindered. It only makes sense to close the shrub in the year after the first flowering and the first fruity hangings cut.

Skilful tailoring with a sense of proportion

An important prerequisite for a successful course is the knowledge of how to distinguish worn shoots from young branches. Since an elder branch only flowers and produces fruit once, it is removed as part of the pruning. You can recognize it by its curved shape, because the heavy berry umbels pull it downwards. Upright shoots, on the other hand, will carry the next fruit curtain. Based on this knowledge, the professional cut is child's play:

• cut off all disused branches at the base
• Also cut off obviously sick or poor branches
• Completely remove cross-growing and inward-facing branches
• Shorten young shoots that are too long by a maximum of a third
• place each incision 2-3 mm above a sleeping eye
• Thoroughly thin out the elderberry as a whole

In the end, sun and air must be able to get to all areas of the black elder so that it does not grow old from within. Don't forget to wear protective clothing and gloves. There is a toxin in all elderberry species that can cause skin irritation under certain circumstances.

Tips & Tricks

Are you aiming for extra bushy growth for your black elder from an early age? Then relax the new shoot of Cuttings until Midsummer Day. This measure promotes further branching particularly effectively.

GTH