Elderberry Pruning

[peanut]

Hi folks,

The birds have kindly given me a couple of Elderberry shrubs , which I think have been growing for 2yrs.

This is the first year which they have flowered and they are about 7-8ft high.

I want to keep them at this height and also want to maximise flowers/fruit.

I'm guessing they flower on year old wood , so is it a case of cutting back those stems which have flowered to re-grow and leaving the new ones which haven't yet flowered for next year and so on?

In other words when is the best time to prune?

Many thanks

[bearded bloke]

Wifey always had me doing it as soon as the leaves died back in early autumn

[veggiechicken]

Yet another thing I've never thought about doing - pruning an elder! I shall watch this space - not that I'll do any pruning, just curious

[rustylady]

Elder flowers on both old and new growth. You can keep it as a shrub by cutting back hard after the flowers or berries (whichever you want to harvest), or you can leave it to grow into a tree.

[Kleftiwallah]

I wander along the canal towpath to collect my annual crop of elderberries for winemaking and no bushes are much taller that 8 foot high. I know they are not pruned by the waterways boys so I suspect you could leave them and they will settle at that height.

Cheers, Tony.

[rustylady]

I wander along the canal towpath to collect my annual crop of elderberries for winemaking and no bushes are much taller that 8 foot high. I know they are not pruned by the waterways boys so I suspect you could leave them and they will settle at that height.

Cheers, Tony.

No Tony, the ones in my garden are at least 10 feet high, maybe more. I get dizzy just looking at them. Mind you they are flowering really well this year.

[Incy]

I'd say our main elder is between 15 and 20ft high although the other 2 are smaller. Definitely only leave to grow if you have space.

[bearded bloke]

I would add that the more we trimmed,the more the "suckers" appeared

[GardenFaery]

I don't prune mine - maybe I should but it has since grown into a lovely tree ( about 12ft now, BUT planted next to fruit trees so it grows UP and not OUT - with MORE flowers and berries it had before - just depends on what you want to plan and plant around it I think rather than the yield - could be wrong - I will listen while I drink from my bottles of elderflower cordial lined up in the fridge LOL

[peanut]

Thanks for the advice so far....think I shall cut back the older flowered branches when the berries have finished in Autumn and see how that goes, a bit of trial and error me thinks.