Elder

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 15:51

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Latin name: Sambucus Family: Adox Headings: Fruit and berry crops, Ornamental trees and shrubs, Medicinal plants

Elderberry (Latin Sambucus) - berry and ornamental culture; shrub or tree of the Adoksovy family. Previously, the genus was ranked among the Honeysuckle family. Other names for buzoks, bases, squeaker. Elderberry is widespread in the southwestern and central regions of the European part of Russia, in Ukraine. Under natural conditions, it grows in the forest zone of the Caucasus.

Characteristics of culture

Elderberry is a large shrub, less often a tree, up to 7 m high. The trunk reaches up to 30 cm in diameter. The bark is gray, with longitudinal cracks. Young branches are green, later - brownish-black with yellow lenticels. Leaves are opposite, compound, pinnate, ovoid, with pointed tips, 20-30 cm long, located on petioles.

Flowers are small, collected in apical inflorescences, have a pleasant aroma. Extreme flowers are sessile. The corolla is wheel-shaped, yellowish-white, with fused petals. The fruit is a berry-like drupe, 3-5 cm in diameter. Flowering takes place in late May - early June. The fruits ripen in the second decade of August and do not crumble until September-October.

Growing conditions

Elder - a light-loving plant, prefers well-lit areas, however, it develops in the shade without problems. Elderberry is smoke-resistant, drought-resistant, thermophilic, does not tolerate frost over -25C. Soils for growing shrubs are desirable loose, fertile, moderately moist, with a slightly acidic or neutral pH reaction. Elderberry has a negative attitude to limed and saline soils.

Reproduction and planting

The culture is propagated by seeds, cuttings and layering. Sowing the seed is carried out in the fall under a shelter in the form of a thick layer of peat or sawdust. Seedlings appear next spring, young plants are transplanted to a permanent place in a year. The seed method is effective only for species of plants.

Elderberries are often propagated by green cuttings. Cuttings are cut in June-August. Planting material is necessarily treated with rooting stimulants. Cuttings are rooted in small greenhouses or in open ground, but under a film. Reproduction by layering is the fastest and easiest way. New shoots of the shrub are laid in grooves and sprinkled with earth. After a year, the rooted layers are separated from the mother plant.

Saplings are planted either in the fall (from September 10 to October 10) or in the spring (from April 15 to May 15). Planting pits are prepared in 2-3 weeks, their diameter should be about 40-50 cm, and their depth should be 40 cm. The soil taken out of the pit is mixed with river sand, peat, rotted manure and superphosphate. Part of the resulting substrate is poured into the bottom of the pit, the seedling is lowered with a slight deepening of the root collar, and carefully sprinkled with the remaining soil. After planting, a small mound 5-7 cm high is formed around the pit and watered abundantly.

Care

Caring for an elderberry is not time consuming and is subject to even a novice gardener. The main tasks for caring for shrubs are systematic watering, weeding, loosening of tree trunks and feeding with mineral and organic fertilizers. Elderberry needs sanitary and formative pruning.

During active plant growth, watering must be combined with top dressing in the form of ash infusion or liquid manure. The first formative pruning is carried out 3-5 years after planting. Frozen, broken and diseased branches are cut out completely, and the rest are shortened by 80-100 cm. The branches recover quickly and give high yields of berries annually.

Often, the elderberry is affected by the elder tailed moth, the elder miner fly and the elder leaf mite. For pest control, spraying with the drug "Fufanon" is carried out. For the winter, the plants are covered with spruce branches, and the trunk circles are mulched with peat or fallen leaves.