Elderberries in NW Arkansas

[DiAnn Gentry]

I would like to convert our vegetable garden space into an elderberry grove; however, I was wondering if the soil may be too rich.  I read in one article that it was best to plant in sand, can someone offer some feedback on this subject?  Also, which is better: seed or cuttings to start my project?  I have some dried seed; however, there's still time to acquire cutting.  I have several elderberries of all different sizes growing by our creek that borders the garden, can I just dig up the smaller ones and transplant; if so, what is the best time? 

[Shannon Laud]

 Elderberries from seed take much time and patience. Just planting the seeds in the spring will result in nothing until the following spring, they need stratification or the coldness of winter to properly germinate.

Read more: How to Cultivate & Plant Elderberry Seeds | Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/84483-cultivate-plant-elderberry-seeds....

Elderberries grow best in well-drained soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Test your soil to see just what you have and alter accordingly.

 Transplanting or cuttings is your best bet. The ones you mentioned by the creek should be dormant this time of year, if you know which plants have produced best in the past do some cuttings NOW.(i.e.Jan-Feb) Look for branches that are at least a year old (about pencil size) and with sharp sheers cut just below a spot where you can see that two opposing branches once were, ....these will become the roots after you plant them. Now look up from those nodules and find the next set of nodules and make the second cut Above them......these will become the new set of leaves. Take this stick home and plant it indoors, take several cuttings and by spring hopefully you will have a plant or two ready to be set out in your garden. 

  Taking plants from the wild may or may not be such a great idea, while you obviously know they will grow in your area, and they are cheap, the berry production and disease resistance of these plants have not been tested and your crop may end up severely lacking. There are several varieties of Elderberries that have tested well here in Missouri (Wyldewood and Bob Gordon are two) and they should do just as good in your area of NW AR.  One of the places you can find these plants is thru Joe Wilson (also a member of this site) or at the Botony Shop in Joplin MO.  Alternately you could just place an order with a seed catalog for the plants in the spring ~ the varieties they sell however are the older ones (York, Adams, etc) and are not as area specific as the Wyldewood and Bob Gordon varieties would be.  

  My advice would be to do everything ~ plant some seeds, transplant some of the smaller ones from the creek, take some cuttings from the creek elderberries, and pick up some Wydlewood and Bob Gordons too.  Good Luck !

[Shannon Laud]

  I have done some seed plantings for further details check out my Elderberry farm blog pages on the subject.

Outdoor Elderberry seedbed

Transplanting Elderberry Plants from seeds to desired spots

[Cracked Cork]

Shannon, I regret being the only one to tell you that the little plants you have labeled as elderberries started from seeds are not elderberries, compare the leaves to the larger plants that you have and its easy to see they are not even close. Crackedcork

[Shannon Laud]

Yes that is exactly what I thought too when I first saw them coming up, (not elderberry!) but they were in the exact rows where I had planted and in an area that was sprayed with weed killer, tilled, covered, and bare for months, so I thought it unlikely that they could have been anything else. I had also planted some seeds indoors in potting soil after chilling them for months in the refrigerator and while very few of these actually came up, (5) the ones that did looked the same as the little plants in my planting bed. I have looked without success for pictures online of elderberries from seed because while I suspected that babies may look different I had not expected them to look This different. As they are getting bigger the leaves are changing to look more like the leaves that are usually recognized as elderberries. I agree totally that as baby plants these look Nothing like an elderberry plant, more like lettuce in the beginning.   Thank you for noticing that they do look Very suspicious and speaking up about it, and while I have no doubt that I can be fooled by mother nature hopefully she has not done it this time, but every day that goes by and the plants get bigger, the leaves are changing and I get a little more sure.  Take a look at these pictures of an older plant that I have taken out of the bed and let me know if you think it is growing into an elderberry.  '
Cracked Cork said:

Shannon, I regret being the only one to tell you that the little plants you have labeled as elderberries started from seeds are not elderberries, compare the leaves to the larger plants that you have and its easy to see they are not even close. Crackedcork

[Cracked Cork]

We I will be darned, the ones we had come up from seed in the wild I guess we didnt notice them until they got bigger, thanks for showing us that. Crackedcork