Topic: Growing elderberry for winemaking

[pg]

I use a lot of elderberries in my home-made wine recipes - up to now I've picked them from the 'wild'. As I have a bit of space, I'm thinking of deliberately planting an elderberry so that this essential fruit is nearer at hand.

Anyone else deliberately planted elderberries - any success? Rather than let it grow into the usual scruffy shrub, I'm wondering if the elderberry can be tamed and pruned as a standard, perhaps a bit like a blackcurrant or gooseberry, to keep it under 5ft.

Any thoughts if this might be a success?

[Baccy Man]

The easiest way to do it is with cuttings just cut a piece stick it in the ground & 99% of the time it will take they are just about as easy as currants. If you prefer to try from seed then the easiest way is to mix a handful of berries into a pot of compost & leave it outside through the winter the seedlings will appear in the spring.
If you want some slightly different elderberries to the usual Sambucus Nigra then you can get the following varieties from http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk
Sambucus Caerulea
Sambucus Sakhalinensis
Sambucus Racemosa
I got a pack of each this year there were close on 100 seeds in each pack so I will be planting a lot of elder trees in the near future.