Sambucus racemosa
Red elderberry
Common names: Red-berried elder
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Pruning
- Feb–Mar
- Flowering
- Apr–May
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Description
The red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) is a native, summer-green shrub that grows wild in forests and along forest edges. It produces dense, yellow-green flower spikes in April and May that attract many insects. From summer onward it bears striking coral‑red berries on upright spikes, which serve as an important food source for many bird species. Unlike the more widely used black elder, the red elderberry is rarely used in cooking. Its berries are toxic when raw, especially the seeds, and should only be cooked and processed without kernels. For children and pets, ripe berries should be kept out of reach. The plant is valued as a bird‑feeder shrub in natural gardens.
Care instructions
Plant in a semi‑shaded to sunny spot with loose, humus‑rich soil; it tolerates some drought once established. Prune immediately after flowering to keep the shrub compact; remove old, dying shoots close to the ground to encourage new vigorous growth. Water young plants regularly for the first one to two years; thereafter, natural rainfall is usually sufficient. As a native and hardy plant, it requires only occasional mulching in spring. Best planted in autumn, from late September to mid‑October (week 39 to 41), so roots establish before winter.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringApr–May
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
nutrient-rich, moist, humus-rich, loamy
Red elder likes fresh to moist soil with plenty of humus, as found under open woodland and at woodland edges. Loamy, nutrient-rich soil suits it more than sandy, poor ground. It does not tolerate waterlogging; a free-draining subsoil protects the roots. On warm, dry sites it grows much more hesitantly.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar, May
A trowelful of mature compost in early spring is enough for red elder for the whole season. If you want to support the growth in May as well, mulch with well-rotted leaves or grass clippings around the root zone. As a woodland-edge shrub it is used to nutrient-rich but not over-fertilised soils, and needs nothing more.
Pruning
Red elder takes a thinning cut well in late winter, before the sap rises. Remove old, bare shoots close to the ground so that light and air get into the inside of the shrub. Pruning is not strictly necessary, though; it also grows healthy and well shaped unpruned.
Overwintering
Red elder is native to Central Europe and the Alps and is therefore fully hardy; winter protection is not needed. Young, freshly planted shrubs appreciate a mulch layer over the root zone in their first winter against severe frost. Older plants come through winter without any preparation and reliably sprout again in spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Layering
The easiest propagation is from hardwood cuttings, which you cut in winter from one-year-old, ripened wood and push straight into the open ground or into pots. Layering also works well: nick a shoot close to the ground, press it into the soil and weigh it down until it forms its own roots. Sowing fresh seed in autumn is possible, but it needs a cold period to germinate and takes correspondingly longer. Birds spread the seeds generously anyway, and seedlings often turn up in the garden by themselves.
For your garden
Grow Red elderberry yourself
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